To Steal From Thieves
by BlueDione
Summary: On the outwards display Nanami is just an ordinary civilian in Soul Society. But at night the young woman turns into a skilled thief that not only disconcerts the higher ups of Seireitei but also Aizen himself. ByakuyaxOC // rated M for mature content
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: This is the first fanfiction I ever wrote and I am not quite confident with my writing abilities. Also I have to tell you that English is not my native language so I am really happy for any advice and it would be nice if someone can take a look at my grammar.

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**Chapter One: Introduction**

It was still dark outside. The sun didn't see the need to rise above the horizon yet and the only sound you could hear through the morning mist was the soft tapping of footsteps. Slowly but surely Nanami made her way through the forest. Her feet nearly never touched the ground beneath. Only her footprints gave away that she even was there. From time to time she would slow down her pace and take a look at the plants that surrounded her. This time in the morning was just perfect to collect some herbs.

Nanami was not voluntarily an early riser, but for her it were moments of calmness and order. It was like a ritual to start the day early and collect some herbs for her employer. She would enjoy as much time as she could get in the woods before she had to go to work. The ground was still very humid this morning and slowed her down nevertheless she found what she was looking for. There on the ground were some common sages she used for a special tea against a sore throat. With a swift movement of her wrist Nanami stuffed some of the sages in her backpack and continued her daily stroll.

There were only two hours left before work and she had to hurry or else she would be late again. She increased her pace. Her puce hair that was held together in a loose ponytail, flattered behind. Her hair always seemed to adapt depending on the time of the day. In the night it was a dark brown but under the light of the sun it seemed to change its colour to a brighter hue with a red glimmer. Due to the lack of time this morning her dark eyes were fixed on the path in front of her. She already knew this part of the woods by heart. After all she lived here for the last five years and had memorized every single herb-spot. _Yuudai-san won't be too angry if I collect some more herbs for his ointments. It'll only take some more minutes._

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Himura Yuudai waited patiently. His muscular back leant against one of the walls of his pharmacy. From his appearance you would guess that he was an experienced warrior and not an owner of a pharmacy shop. His unruly and short grey hair fell loosely against his shoulders. He wore a traditional headband to keep his hair out of his sight and out of his medicine. He bought the little shop about three decades ago and was very proud of it. Most of the inhabitants of the lower districts would visit him when they were in need of medicine or ointments. He was a well known man in these parts of Soul Society. Of course in the first years there were some troubles now and then. Many of the forceful intrusions had ended with a shattered glass or two. He had received numerous threats from unknown persons and it was way too often that someone would just burst into his shop and demand medicine. After all, this was the 62th district of Soul Society. Sure it was not that bad like in the 78th or 74th district but even here thieves and murderers were nothing out of the ordinary. In this time he was really grateful for his appearance. His tall figure, muscular arms and the angry glare forced such intruders to take flight.

Yuudai stretched his arms and legs and prepared to get ready for work. He knew that Nanami would be late again but he wasn't angry at all. The later she arrived here the better – not because she was bad in what she was doing, but because she had a good sense for herb-collecting and an even better knowledge about herbs in general. It was quite a habit of her to come in later and collect some herbs for him in the morning. With one hand Yuudai gathered his instruments for the ointment production. Some tubes and containers were already laid out on the large table so he only added sharp blades and a masher. Just in this moment he heard a knock on the door.

"Good morning, Yuudai-_san_, its Nanami-_san_. May I enter?" Nanami asked politely.

"Baka. You don't have to ask after two years of working for me." Was the direct answer from Nanami's employer.

"I'm sorry for being late, Yuudai-_san_. I was a little bit deeper inside the woods this morning and tried to collect some rare herbs. And at least I was successful." She informed with a small smile and a sparkle in her eyes.

She settled her backpack on the nearby working space and pulled out three bags. In the first one Yuudai could see the well known _Salvia officinalis _or common sage. He would recognize these pedals even when he was asleep. The white till violet coloured pedals were arranged in a panicle at each plant and made it easy to differentiate the common sage from the rarer sages. But nonetheless the common sage was a really useful plant and Yuudai couldn't store enough of it. After all they were in the 62th district und medicine already was a rare good. The second bag and third bag contained Turmeric and Zedoary. Both were really special herbs. Normally they would be used as spices but with some ingredients they could become a really good medicine for digestive or liver problems. Yuudai stared in amazement at the great amount of herbs that Nanami laid down at the table. He was impressed to say the least. Turmeric and Zedoary were highly requested herbs for the higher ups in Soul Society and the medicine would bring in a great amount of money too. Not that he was in need of the money but in these districts of Soul Society nobody could earn enough money to pay for such herbs.

"I don't know how you make it. I didn't even know that these herbs grew inside this forest of yours." A slightly confused look was plastered on the face of the middle aged man.

Sometimes he simply had no clue what to make out of Nanami. As far as he knew there was only a secluded small area in the middle of the forest near the 79th district were you could get this herbs an the only reason you could get them there was because of the tropical conditions. But by all means Nanami was not a Shinigami and couldn't use shunpo. So there was no way in hell that she went there and back to the 62th district within one day.

"Do not think that much of it, Yuudai-_san_. I can assure you that I have really good eyes and as you know I can be quite fast too if I want."

As usually Nanami wouldn't tell Yuudai-_san_ where she found these special herbs. Once he asked her where she found them but she only answered that it was her little secret. After that he never asked her again. For both of them it was a fair trade. After all he never told her all his special recipes for medicine and Nanami never pursued that matter at all. It was a quiet understanding between the two of them.

"Yuudai-_san_, do you think it is possible that I get a day off? I want to look after Tomoko and Isamu at the orphanage and bring them their medicine."

Nanami wasn't quite sure if she would get the day off but normally her employer was a really grateful man and now was a good opportunity to ask. She was certain that he could finish this medicine without her help. Yuudai-san anticipated that question already. After all he was working with Nanami for over two years and knew that Nanami had a weakness for kids especially for the kids at the nearby orphanage. He looked the young woman over with a contemplative gaze. Her head was tilted slightly in expectance of his answer and her dark eyes held a pleading look. She was way to kind for her own good. He let out a sigh and finally agreed.

"Of course you can take the next day off but try not to be late the day after tomorrow. We already started late today and when I am alone tomorrow too there will be a lot of work to do." _You better make sure that you are in time_. His gaze took a slightly menacing note as if to underline this statement.

It was a case of give and take. Nanami and Yuudai were a good team. In exchange for her days off, Yuudai normally received some rare herbs from Nanami or sometimes Nanami would babysit his two little daughters Katsumi and Akemi. The two little girls were his greatest pride and honour and he loved them dearly. Not to forget his beloved wife Mai. You could say that Yuudai was a really lucky man with a small family and his own shop. But normally he separated work from his private business and it was better that way. At the beginning his wife was really furious when he hired Nanami. He often told her that there was nothing to worry about but even now his wife was a little bit cautious with his assistant. It was not that he couldn't understand his wife. After all Nanami was a really beautiful woman. Slender in her appearance with long limbs and peach coloured skin she moved with a gracefulness he never had seen before. It was like her body and mind were in complete harmony. For him it looked like every step she took was well considered. But the most fascinating thing about this woman was her ability to work with people. It intrigued him to no end how she managed to calm down furious customers. A subtle smile here and some calming words there and even the powerful men in this district became quiet and communicative. But as much as Nanami impressed him from time to time as much did he love his dear wife and children. For his beloved family he would do everything even when it would cost him his life.

Suddenly Yuudai only saw someone's hand in front of his face and he recognized that he had stared for quite some time at his assistant.

"I really owe you for this. I will make it up to you, I swear." Nanami said with a small smile on her face.

"If you are that eager to do something for me you can babysit Katsumi and Akemi next Thursday. My wife and I want to celebrate our anniversary and it would be nice if the kids would not be around all the time."

"That is no problem. Katsumi and Akemi are really nice and they both make it an enjoyable task to look after them."

Nanami liked those kids. They were lively and happy little kids with parents whom loved them dearly and would do everything for them. Whenever Nanami saw those two little girls play tag or hide and seek she could feel that there is hope even in the lower districts. Hope. For many people it was only a word, but for Nanami it was like a mission. Maybe she simply had seen too many people, especially kids, who lost their life because they couldn't find anything to eat or even worse who killed each other for a leaf of bread. One might think that Soul Society was the place were souls were able to rest and live in harmony their afterlife in harmony, but for many people in the lower district Soul Society was even worse than hell itself. Thoughts of cold, hunger and the menacing glares from men on the street flooded her mind. For kids it was even harder. Most of them had nobody to hold on and they where thrown into a brutal world where the only chance you have is to murder or rob. It was the cruel truth about that place. The only chance to escape from that kind of life was to become a Shinigami – a Death God or to marry someone in the higher districts of Soul Society.

For a moment Yuudai could see the dark shadows that loomed above Nanami. Even though her thoughts were inwards the frown on her face gave away that it was nothing pleasant she was thinking about.

"Whats the matter with that gloomy face of yours? Shouldn't you be happy to get the day off?" _Maybe she isn't that happy to babysit my little girls._

"It is nothing at all and it surely has nothing to do with your two girls." With that Nanami went back to work and started to fiddle with one of the tubes and a scissor. Sometimes it was really hard for her not to show every single emotion on her face. Even though she had gotten better in that matter sometimes she couldn't chase the shadows away that hung over her.

... tbc ...

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A/N: In the first Chapter I only want to give some impressions how Nanami lives and what her daily routine looks like. In the next Chapter Nanami will visite the orphanage. I thought that maybe there are too many OC's in that Chapter but they are all really important for the storyplot.


	2. Chapter 2: A Helping Hand

**To Steal From Thieves**

_Thougths_

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: I finally finished the second chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

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**Chapter Two: ****A Helping Hand**

Nanami awoke with a start next day. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the sunlight that shone through the window of her small hut. _It was already that late…?_ Within seconds Nanami pulled the blankets away and was heading towards the bathroom. She hadn't slept that much last night and rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes. Due to her late arrival yesterday she had slept in. Her body felt so sore because of the night's activities and her head started to ache. Nanami put a hand to her temples knowing that a headache was on the way. She had to get ready if she wanted to visit the orphanage. Tomoko and Isamu were going to get all worked up if she didn't show up today. It was already a week since her last visit and Tomoko was in need of her medicine.

With a deep sigh Nanami made her way through the small hut she called her home. If she wanted she could have had afforded something more spacious and comfortable a long time ago but the proximity of the forest and the seclusion from noisy or unpleasant people gave her a feeling of safety. Nanami collected the tea bags she had gotten the day before. The tea smelled like fresh sage and for Tomoko-_chan's _throatit was ideal. The small girl was smart for her age and improved in her writing skills almost as fast as her older sibling Isamu. Learning how to write and read was a privilege in this part of Soul Society. Usually only people who belonged to nobility were able to pay for teachers. The thought alone made Nanami flinch. Shouldn't every one get that right? Searching for a small leather bag Nanami knelt down on the floor of her bedroom and loosened some of the shelves that covered the ground beneath. There was a hole that contained what Nanami looked for. She put the leather bag into her backpack and walked out of the door. A moderate breeze caught her long, dark brown tresses and slowly but surely she disappeared into the woods.

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"Give it back to me!" An angry voice demanded. Small tears threatened to follow the command. Tomoko hated these boys. They were mean and cruel to her all the time. Sometimes she wished that they would simply disappear forever. First they broke two of her most favourite toys and now they stole her doll. Three boys surrounded the small girl and threw her puppet from one to each other. Tomoko only wanted her doll back and then go back to her lessons. One of the boys threw the puppet across the place to another boy who was about to jump and catch the doll. He grinned at the girl after that task but as he wanted to throw the doll to the next boy he stopped in his tracks. The doll was gone.

"How often must I tell you that it is not nice to pick on somebody who is younger than you?" Nanami scolded the three boys only earning some menacing glares. However the three boys left the place without a word. Tomoko was about to shout after the boys because of her doll when she felt a hand on her shoulder that stopped her. Tomoko slightly turned her head to Nanami's hand and as she looked back after the boys Nanami held her beloved doll in front of her face. A slight squeal of delight escaped from the small girl. Her teary eyes from before now sparkled and a smile adorned her face. For her age Tomoko was really small. But on the other hand you could never be quite sure how old someone in Soul Society was. But you didn't necessarily need to be tall in appearance to do great things. Tomoko was strong in her own ways and she attained some skills those boys would never be able to acquire.

"Tomoko-_chan_ I told you not to go that far away from the orphanage. I bet Isamu-_niichan_ is already worrying to death because of you." Nanami's face took a serious note. Not only was it dangerous for a young girl like her to be that far away from the safety of the orphanage but there was also a risk that she couldn't find the way back.

"Isamu-_niichan_ was really mean, too. He wanted me to do his homework for the teacher but I told him that he has to do it himself if he wants to learn something." Tomoko shifted her head slightly. Her small hands reached for Nanami's arm to hold on and the both of them walked back to the orphanage.

"You are really busy, Nami-_chan_, are you?" The small girl hugged her doll a little bit tighter but it wasn't unnoticed and her eyes took a somehow sad expression. It was heart melting.

"You don't have to worry, Tomoko-_chan. _I will not disappear. There are times when I have a lot of work to do but I will find time to visit you and Isamu-_chan_." She gave the small hand of the girl a gentle squeeze as reassurance.

"Is that a promise?" The small girl asked. Her pale jade coloured eyes expectantly beemed up at Nanami.

"Of course it is." Nanami knelt down to be at eye-level with the young girl and ruffled through her black hair. Tomoko squealed and tried to smooth the hair back into its place.

"Sometimes you are mean too, Nami-_chan."_ Tomoko pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest. But her eyes were filled with happy laughter and betrayed her angry-looking appearance. Suddenly the laughter of Tomoko changed into a coughing fit and she put a hand in front of her mouth. Nanami's relaxed expression faltered.

"I have something for your throat. It will cease the coughing fits and alleviate the pain." Nanami said while stroking the back of the young girl.

Tomoko's chatter filled the air on their way back to the orphanage. Sometimes the little girl even forgot to breathe when she told Nanami every single thing that had happened in the last week. The sun stood high above their heads and it was past midday. The streets were crowded with people. Nanami felt slightly uncomfortable in the middle of the street. Even if she didn't see them, she could feel the gazes the both of them earned from cloaked figures. In the heat of the sun Nanami also recognized two Shinigamis who were staying at the entrance of a shop and observed the street. They certainly were assigned to that district because of the rapidly increasing crime rate. The gazes of the Shinigamis were fixed to a small sideway where only moments ago two guys were selecting their next victim. It was always that way. Nanami fastened their pace to leave this street. In the broad daylight when everyone had something to do pickpockets came out and stole whatever they could.

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The orphanage was only two streets away from the pharmacy Nanami worked for. A wall separated the crowded street from the inside of the orphanage and on the front gate sat a friendly looking old man. With a small nod of his head he greeted Nanami and Tomoko. The old man also had told Nanami earlier that day that Tomoko had left the orphanage. A small garden with some flowers and a playground for the kids were inside the walls. The building itself was not impressive at all. It was big for sure, but nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the rooms included two or three beds for the kids to stay. There also existed a bathroom on each floor. A dining room and some sort of living room were placed next to the principal's office. Most of the kids were playing tag in the garden or studying for the next lesson. Once in a week a teacher taught them the basics of reading and writing. It wasn't much but at least they would learn something useful at all.

"Where have you been?" An angry voice shouted through the halls of the building. The voice belonged unmistakably to Isamu-_chan_. The boy was the same height as his sister. A frown played across his features and he glared at his younger sibling.

"I searched everywhere. You could at least tell me when you leave, okay?" His anger seeped through every muscle of his small body. His hands clenched into fists.

"You were mean to me." Tomoko murmured. The grip on her doll tightened.

Tomoko hated it when her brother was like that. Isamu was short but as his name implied he was a fighter. Even with that small and thin body of his he was strong and he would protect his little sister no matter what, that was for sure. Even though his anger was blatant obvious to everyone, Nanami and Tomoko knew that he was only worried for his younger sibling. With a turn of his head he stomped away. His unruly black hair was in a stark contrast to his pale skin. Nanami sometimes thought that the paleness came from the lack of food or water but overall the boy was really thin. It was two years ago when she found him on the verge of death in an ally not to far away from the orphanage.

_:Flashback:_

It was a rainy day in Soul Society and the clouds almost covered the whole sky. The streets were empty except for some beggars. Lots of puddles decorated the streets. In the distance Nanami heard the faint rustle from garbage. Maybe someone tried to find something to eat in this forlorn place. After all it was nothing else. This district looked somehow lost and forgotten and the thunder and rain only amplified that fact. Nanami fastened her pace and leaped from rooftop to rooftop. A soft cry like a plea made her stop in her tracks. In the first moment she couldn't quite detect from where the noise was coming. Nanami passed two more alleys and there she saw him. A small boy was lying in a sideway. He was barely clothed, his skin was pale and his dark hair was plastered against his face. Nanami looked at the huddled figure in front of her before she knelt down and scooped the little boy up in her arms. To see a small kid in that condition was heartbreaking.

Steps tapped through the rain. Nanami knew of the nearby orphanage and this was her destination. Her grip on the small boy unconsciously tightened. His shallow breathing and fragile appearance made Nanami flinch. She hoped that it wasn't too late for the young boy and bit her lip. She reached the orphanage past midnight. The principal Midori-_san _tried her best to wrap the young boy into dry clothes and then she gently laid him down on one of the guest futons. Fire was crackling nearby. Midori-_san_ also asked his assistant to bring someone here who could take a look at the boy. His paleness was in such a stark contrast to his unruly black hair that it was frightening. His eyes were closed and slowly the tension in his features ebbed away. He was adorable with that peaceful expression on his face.

Due to the late hour there was no physician available. There were only two physicians in this district to begin with. It was that day that Nanami first met Himura Yuudai. He wasn't a physician, but his medicine and ointments could save lives as well.

"I am very glad to see you, Himura-_san_. Nanami-_san_ over there found a young boy in a nearby alley and we don't know what exactly is wrong with him. It would be nice if you could take a look at him." Midori-san asked politely with a small bow of her head.

"To be honest, I am not really glad to see you in the middle of the night and you know that I am not a professional." Yuudai-san said with a stern look on his face.

"But on the other hand ..." He paused for a while and then sighed.

"My wife will skin me alive when I let that small boy of yours die without doing anything." His eyes softened a little bit.

Despite the lack of sleep Yuudai-_san_ tried to concentrate as hard as possible when he checked the boy. He wasn't a professional but he knew how to treat a small child. Hell he even had two children himself. After 30 minutes his eyes softened and he let out a sigh of relief.

"There is nothing wrong with him. He only needs some sleep and warmth." He said with a soft voice. Finally he ruffled through the hair of the kid and got up.

"And what should I do with him?" Midori-_san_ inquired. She was surprised that the boy was completely healthy despite the circumstances of his arrival here. She looked doubtfully to Yuudai-_san_.

"It was certainly a matter of hours. I think he reformed within the last two days in Soul Society."

"He just reformed here?" Now it was Nanami who looked utterly confused.

"That's what I am saying. He arrived in Soul Society some days ago. Despite that fact he also suffers from hypothermia because of the unusually cold rain outside. He just needs rest and sleep and everything will be ok." Yuudai stood up from his kneeling position on the floor in front of the futon, collected some ointments and bid his farewells.

After Yuudai-_san_ was gone Nanami made her way to the small boy who was still lying unconscious on the futon. A small smile played across his features and some of his black strands hung into his face. Nanami settled down on the floor next to the futon and watched him sleep. Her own thoughts wandered inwards. The rain drummed against the windows and the roaring thunder outside reflected her own inner battle. This boy died in the real world only to nearly die in this world again. _How cruel could fate possibly be? _Nanami felt not only sadness for the poor boy but also an inner rage and that rage was slowly growing out of control. She clenched her hands into fists and felt the need to inflict some damage somewhere. Nanami wasn't a violent person but enough was enough. She had seen too many kids die on the streets of Rukongai from poverty and hunger. It simply wasn't fair that some privileged souls were lucky to be reborn in the higher districts and that some would only reform in the dirtiest parts of that damned world. Long held back anger ran through her veins, her shoulders stiffened and she cursed this injustice.

Drowning in her own thoughts Nanami didn't realize the small hand that clutched the sleeves of her cloak. She raised her head to look at the young boy only to stare into blue eyes that were as beautiful and deep as the ocean. But what shocked Nanami more was the happiness in his face and the two words that changed a world for both of them.

"Thank you"

:End Flashback:

Since then two years had passed. Only some days after his arrival in Soul Society he had been as healthy as every other boy in the orphanage. Now he was a bundle of energy and didn't tire to get into trouble every time given the chance and the only two persons he would listen to were Nanami and Tomoko. Even the impressive display of temper today couldn't hide the fact that he was just concerned about his younger sibling.

"Sometimes I wish that he would get his temper under control." Nanami sighed and looked to the young girl besides her.

"Ok, I think I should make you that special tea for your throat." With that the both of them went into one of the kitchens on that floor. Nanami hoped that this tea would help Tomoko.

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"It seems that you are really into it, Nanami-_san_." Nanami turned her head to the door only to look into the smiling face of Midori_-san_. She was still head of the orphanage and a very good one, too.

"Maybe you should stay here and work with the kids. They really love you."

"You ask that every time when I am here." Nanami retorted with a small smile. Her features finally relaxed and for the first time in a long and stressful week she felt at ease. Tomoko was lying in her arms and seemed asleep. After Isamu's temper had cooled down a little bit he had joined Tomoko and Nanami in the small kitchen and was now doing his homework. It was just too peaceful and she wished that it would stay that way forever. They all were like a really big family.

_But I have to go…_

Nanami scooped up the little girl in her arms and carried her to her quarter. She was careful not to wake her while on the way to her room. Tomoko stirred twice but didn't wake up. Gently, Nanami laid her down on the futon and covered her in one of the blankets. She kissed her on the forehead and left the room noiselessly. Back in the kitchen she gathered her backpack and poked Isamu on the head.

"Take good care of your sister and make sure that she drinks that tea."

Isamu only grunted in response. He was still a little bit pissed because of the incident today and it seemed that he was angry that Nanami was the one who found Tomoko-_chan_. Nanami leaned down to the unresponsive boy and whispered something into his ear. Nobody knew what she said but the boy nodded in understanding. With that Nanami bid her farewells and left for the entrance of the building.

Sometimes it was really hard to leave them on their own but Nanami knew that Midori-_san_ would take good care of the two of them if something was going to happen to her. It was hard to be near them that often and in the same moment so far apart. _But it didn't matter anymore_._ I made my decision two years ago and I will not turn back, even if I would be given the chance._ At the entrance Nanami scanned her surroundings and sensing no spiritual energy nearby and no persons around she carefully walked down the steps to the bathroom in the cellar. There no longer was a faint smile that played across her features. Her eyes were dark and exuded a coldness someone would never see in that lovely face in the midst of the day. The air around her changed and there was no longer the relaxed woman who held a little child dearly in her arms but one of the most skilled criminals that ever existed within Soul Society.

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She was ashamed of herself to say the least but it was the perfect opportunity to hide her tracks completely. The bathroom in the cellar of the orphanage was an old one. The sinks and toilets didn't work at all and over the years a huge amount of dust covered most parts of the room. Nanami put her backpack down on the floor and headed to one of the toilets. There in the flush was a long dark blue cloak with a hood. She didn't hesitate for one moment and put on the cloak. It was a really wide one. You couldn't even tell if a man or a woman was wearing it. That was the most important reason why Nanami had chosen this one a long time ago.

Reaching for her backpack she looked for the small leather bag and found it immediately. Finally she stuffed the backpack in the flush where the cloak was and turned towards the door. Inwardly Nanami checked up on everything before she was going to meet one of her _"traders"_. They were not really traders but she thought the name fit very well for them. She took a deep breath and focused on tonight's mission and with that she literally vanished.

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A/N: I know that there is not that much action at the moment, but I promise it will get better.


	3. Chapter 3: Our Daily Bread

**To Steal From Thieves**

_Thougths_

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: New chapter is up, so please read and review :D

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**Chapter Three: Our Daily Bread**

His hand closed around one of her breasts while his mouth licked and teased the other one. The girl beneath him squirmed and moaned in delight. He bit down on one of her nipples. The temperature in the room was nearly unbearable but it didn't bother Keisuke at all. He moved his right hand from her breast to her belly never stopping with his ministrations on the other one. Calloused fingers made their way towards her right hip down to her womanhood. _She is already that wet. _He grinned. One finger slipped inside of her searching for that soft spot that would drive her near the edge. With his thumb he caressed the small bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs. Her head flew back against the mattress and a small toneless cry escaped her lips. Her hands tugged at his hair.

Most of the women were just too easy to please. He continued his ministrations. A second finger joined the first one and he started to scissor them. Her moans and cries of pleasure only fuelled his own desire. He withdrew his hand and reared back spreading her legs to make a place for himself. He didn't hesitate nor did he wait for her agreement. With a thrust he forced himself deep inside her. His right hand gripped a fistful of her blonde locks but besides that his body didn't move. A frown appeared at the blondes face. He was teasing her.

"Please" She begged him and her hips rocked desperately against him.

"Please what?" He leaned down to cover one of her full breasts with his mouth.

"Please move…"

With that he began to thrust into her. His strokes weren't slow or languidly but hard and rough and the woman beneath him cried out in pure pleasure. Her hands scratched across his back never standing still while he fastened his pace. He was very close. One of his hands reached between her thighs to press against the bundle of nerves and they climaxed together.

Keisuke finally collapsed on top of the blonde woman. He didn't remember her name nor was it of any interest for him. She was only one of the whores in that brothel but he had to admit that she was worth the money he had paid for her. The tension in his muscles ebbed away and he relaxed a little bit. The dim light of the room nearly lulled him to sleep. With a start he was lifting himself out of the bed and he collected his clothes that were scattered on the floor. No words were spoken. Some moments later the blonde woman dressed silently and left the room.

* * *

It was over a week since he had last seen her. Not that he wanted to see her that badly but he was in need of money. It was only two days ago when he lost a great amount of the silvery coins at the bar. Seemed that he was out of luck for once but he wasn't that concerned. Compared to other men Keisuke knew that he was good in what he was doing. Slowly he walked down the now empty streets of the 78th district of West-Rukongai. Inuzuri was one of the worst parts of Soul Society. Murderers and thieves were only waiting for a chance to strike. A leaf of bread or some coins were reason enough to commit murder.

_That damn __little annoying brat better shows up soon. _His pace increased slightly and he contemplated what he was going to tell her this time. The houses on the left and right side of the street were shabby. Some beggars sat on the street with a cup in front of them. _Most of them would never survive the coming winter. Fools. _Keisuke learned at a very young age that nobody was going to help him in this world and now he was grateful for that attitude. He hated begging. He would never ask for anything but rather take what he wanted and normally he would get what he desired. A moderate breeze brushed against his skin and played with his greasy and uncombed hair. _She will visit me soon. _A grin appeared on his face. Though he couldn't rely on anybody else he at least could trust his instincts and with that thought he stopped in his tracks and leaned against a wall in a small sideway.

One hand gripped the blade he hid under his wide black cloak and the other hand grabbed the small cigarette packet. Smoking was one of his sins but he never really cared. Indulging in cigarettes, alcohol and woman was a privilege in these parts of Rukongai and he was lucky that he could add gambling to that list, too. With his mouth he took a cigarette from the packet. _Where is my lighter? _He lowered his head and continued his search. Suddenly out of nowhere a hand that held his lighter shot forward. For a moment Keisuke's eyes went wide but he composed himself shortly after. A soft click sounded through the sideway and Keisuke gladly ignited the cigarette.

"Stealthy as always, my dear Azumi-_chan_." Keisuke said in a sweet voice. _So my instincts were right again. _The person in front of him wore a dark blue cloak with a hood that covered almost her entire face. He reached forward to snatch his lighter from her grasp. This thief was the most unpleasant he ever worked with but she also was the best. Usually he would contact his _clients _and they would play under his rules. However, she was an exception. An unusual exception he had to admit. He inhaled deeply savouring the flavour of the cigarette.

"Did you get them?" He didn't have to ask. After all, she wouldn't contact him if she didn't have this vial. _What a troublesome woman_. She never uttered a single word and over all she was really careful. He tried to discover her true identity many times; he even tried to snatch that hood away from her face.

She nodded and her hand disappeared in one of her sleeves. A well known leather bag appeared in her hand and she tossed it to him. He followed the small bag with his eyes and caught it effortlessly. As he turned back to Azumi she was already gone. There was no trace left that she even had been there. _Unpleasant woman._ He looked at the small leather bag in his hand. There would be a notice from her inside, together with this unique vial. He had told her about it at the last meeting a week ago. A rich guy with the codename _"Tsubasa"_ wanted this vial and offered a large amount of money. For him it was a great risk to trade with such rare goods. This vial consisted of a green and blue substance. The green liquid was on the right side and the blue one on the left side. They met in the middle but never mixed with each other. It was said that this vial would protect the person that wore it. Keisuke stuffed the leather bag in one of his pockets and continued his walk to the inn where he had rented a room.

* * *

Nanami closed the gap between herself and the upper districts. Her destination was a mansion in the 5th district of West-Rukongai. That mansion belonged to a family named Fujimaru and they were part of the so called landed gentry. Normally, she would be there already but it took longer than expected to find that Keisuke-_guy._ She didn't like him and above all she didn't trust him. He would sell his soul for money and Nanami had no doubt that he would betray her if he was given the chance. But for the time being she had to work with him if she liked him or not. He was a well known man in the scene and knew many people that would buy artifacts and pay enormous amounts of money. Usually those people also were part of the nobility. A sarcastic smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Those people would hire thieves to steal from each other. It was kind of ironic.

Nanami jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She was silent as always and completely aware of her surroundings. Her senses were sharp and focused on the task at hand. The Fujimaru mansion was in the midst of the 5th district and most of the inhabitants of the mansion were hopefully away or asleep. Finally she was at the border to the 5th district. Some shinigami patrolled the street besides her but didn't notice her. She smiled slightly. They would never see her. With that she gracefully jumped to the next rooftop.

* * *

He lowered himself onto the bed in his rented room and twirled the small leather bag with his fingers. Then he opened it and emptied it in front of him. The vial and a piece of paper surfaced. He grabbed the paper and read its contents. There was only an address written on the paper. He sighed and leaned against one of the pillows in his bed.

"Stupid bothersome brat…" He murmured. The amount of money he would get for the vial was enormous. The address written on the paper was the place where he had to deposit the money in an envelope. It was troublesome to walk the streets of Rukongai with so much money but it was worth the risk. After all he would get ten percent of the total amount. Sometimes the thought occurred to him to keep the money but as always he dismissed that kind of thoughts. Azumi was able to steal from the higher districts and he had no doubt that she would steal that money from him as well. He would lose a really profitable source of income. Slowly his eyes closed and contemplated how the delivery of the vial could take place.

* * *

She jumped down and landed gracefully on the street. In front of her were the border guards. Four shinigami talked in low voices to each other. Two others played cards and the seventh one was leaning against their outpost and kept watch. The street no longer was a dirt road but a paved one. Lanterns stood on the right and left side and shone brightly. The border to the 5th district was also the main border to the higher districts of Soul Society, consisting of district one through twelve and Seireitei. Everyone who wanted to cross that border was in need of a special travel passport. Only those who belonged to nobility could provide such a passport. Usually servants, maids and messengers owned them.

The young shinigami on the top of the outpost sighed. It was such a quiet night that it was tiring to watch the streets that extended in front of him. They were seven shinigamis in total and that was way too much he thought. They would sense everybody with higher reiatsu within seconds and those whom didn't have any reiatsu at all were fools if they would try to cross the border. He yawned and stretched his arms and legs. _Training with the 13__th__ division is much more enjoyable than to watch the empty streets._

Nanami silently observed the young man on top of the outpost. He hadn't noticed her presence. She took a step towards the young man. The leather from her shoes made it impossible to recognize that she even had moved. _They will not realize that someone crossed the border tonight. _With that she left and continued her path to the Fujimaru mansion within the 5th district. No shinigami at the outpost had ever realized that she was there. It was thanks to a special ability of her. She had a rather large amount of reiatsu but never entered the shinigami academy. She detested violence of any kind. Nanami believed that she could never point a weapon at a person, whether they were good or bad ones and she preferred peaceful solutions.

A long time ago Nanami had discovered that the large amount of spiritual pressure she inherited wasn't a bad thing per se. She had mastered to completely hide her own reiatsu signature. Usually, every shinigami could detect the faintest traces of reiatsu. It was a basic skill that academy students would learn in the first year. In order to find a person they only had to concentrate and push their reiatsu inwards and with enough exercise they would be able to actually see the spirit threads of every person. Threads of shinigamis themselves had a red colour whereas the threads of the normal citizens of Rukongai would be white. Nanami could trick that kind of technique. She was able to suppress her own reiatsu in a way that hid her own signature as well. She simply disappeared and a shinigami would never detect any traces of reiatsu at all. There was no slight pressure of her reiatsu that they could recognize or anything else. Several circumstances had forced Nanami to hide her reiatsu, so it was second nature for her to suppress it. During the day she would hide the traces of her reiatsu as well as during the night. Not even her own employer knew about her reiatsu.

From that kind of view it wasn't remarkable that the shinigamis at the outpost didn't notice her. They were unseated or lower seated division members. Nobody of them had an overly large reiatsu himself and so their chance to detect her around them was slim. However, it wasn't that unusual that someone could suppress their reiatsu in that way. Seated members, captains and vice-captains normally were able to control their reiatsu in the same manner. If that was the only thing the shinigamis would already have realized that she was around but Nanami could not only trick their detection skills but also their senses. It was several years ago that she started to manipulate reiatsu to her liking. It was not that kind of manipulating someone would learn at the academy, it rather resembled kidou. She had run lots of tests with her own reiatsu and methods to use it to her advantage. It had been a coincidence that she had discovered a way to trick the human eye and it had pleased her. A natural phenomenon had caught her eye during a long and hot summer day years ago. In the midst of the day the sun had been high above her head and had shone relentlessly. What had attracted her attention was a flicker on the street. She had tried to concentrate to see clearly but it hadn't worked. Even more interesting had been the fact that the objects behind that flicker were misshaped. Her eyes had widened in sudden recognition and she immediately had left towards the public library.

It had taken a great amount of time to perfect this technique and it had worked out really well. Nanami slowed down and stopped in the middle of the street. Her camouflage was still in place. It was easy to accomplish and yet it was a dangerous endeavour. It was thanks to the fact that a shinigami was able to detect the directly emitted spiritual pressure and failed to detect manipulated reiatsu like kidou. In many cases that was a good thing. Nanami used that to her advantage and let her reiatsu cover her. She could weave a thin layer consisting of thousands of spiritual particles from her own reiatsu that completely overcasted herself and reflected the light in a way that made her nearly invisible to the naked eye. That meant that she wasn't only able to hide herself from being detected due to her spiritual signature, but could also fool the most important sense of a soul. The only thing someone would recognize was a slight flicker when she moved.

Nanami turned her head to the right side. She had been in the 5th district several times before and had already memorised most of the streets and houses. It would take only a few more minutes until she arrived at the Fujimaru mansion.

* * *

It was 3:00 am as Keisuke awoke from a dreamless sleep. He lazily stretched and opened his eyes only to realize that it was still dark outside. Today he had to contact _"Tsubasa"_ because of the vial. Sometimes it bothered him that Azumi never told him a time when she wanted the money. She would only give him an address. Every time it was unnerving and it wasn't the first time that he thought that she kept track of him. It was most likely. After all he didn't even know how she looked like.

He got up from the bed and in a matter of minutes he had showered, dressed and shaved himself. He searched for one of his finest hakama and shirt. His mind pondered on some ways how to contact _"Tsubasa"_ without getting too much attention. The corners of his lips cocked up slightly and a mischievous smile appeared. The best way to get this ordeal dealt with was a direct confrontation.

* * *

Nanami reached her destination. The large mansion of the Fujimaru clan laid in front of her and was enclosed by a wall. There was only one entrance gate that was highly guarded. Four of them patrolled the walls while the others kept track of the main gate. Nanami leapt to the ground from the nearby branch she was sitting at. Slowly, she moved towards the gate. She made no noise at all. She paused besides a guard and stopped her breathing for a moment. Even if they couldn't see her nor detect her reiatsu they could still hear, feel or smell her. She was thankful that she could be so silent that they wouldn't notice her even if she was that close. Nevertheless, Nanami feared that they might be able to hear her breathing.

Apparently, the guards hadn't detected her yet so she moved on towards the iron gate. The wall that surrounded the mansion was too high for her to simply jump over. The only way she could get inside was through the gate. During her first break-ins Nanami had thought about many possibilities how to get into a secluded area like this and the best solution was to distract the guards that protected the gate. She only needed two seconds to get in so she carefully picked up a stone that immediately was invisible, too. A crack was heard as the stone hit a tree that was in the vicinity and as expected the guards turned their heads away from the door. Silently Nanami opened the door slipped in and made her way towards the mansion.

The catchiest part of her break-in was done and Nanami continued her walk. There were some rules Nanami was accustomed to. One of these rules was never to walk on the footway. It wasn't unusual that visitors of mansions like that were shinigamis and many of them were able to use flashstep. They couldn't see her but that wouldn't do it if she crashed into one of them whilst they were using flashstep. Nanami passed the front door and headed directly to the entrance at the rear end. Another rule was that knowledge sometimes was more important than good skills. Nanami already had an impression of the mansion before she decided to come here tonight. One of her sources was the Grand City Library in the 4th district that collected many plans from the great mansions in the higher districts. Usually only the architects and family members had access to that kind of information but luckily, Nanami didn't have to ask for permission.

As expected, an entrance was at the back of the mansion. Certainly that doorway was for the maids and servants. Nanami made her way towards the door and tried to turn the knob. It was closed. She reached into her sleeves and pulled out a lock pick. Some movements later, she had opened the door and silently made her way towards the stairs. Her destination was the first floor. The whole mansion was quiet. After all, it was 3:30 o'clock in the morning. It was too late for the owner of that mansion who often went to parties and it was too early for the maids and servants but that also meant that she had only some more minutes. The halls were dark and it was hard to see anything. If she hadn't studied the plans at the library the task at hand would most likely be impossible. There also was the possibility that she could form a ball of light from her own reiatsu but it was a really high risk because it was a source of light and recognizable for everyone else, too. Finally, Nanami reached the third shoji door on the left side and pulled it open to enter the room. It was dark inside, too but she could see better because of the moon that shone through the windows. There in one corner of the room was the object of her desire. Carefully she took step after step towards the cabinet and stopped in front of it. She couldn't detect any traces of reiatsu and there were no signs of traps or anything like that. She held her breath and slowly opened the cabinet. Inside was a pendant that was also called _"The Rising Sun"_. It was part of a set, however the second part of this set belonged to someone else. The pendant was amazingly beautiful. Even in the darkness the bright orange and red stones glistened brightly. Nanami hesitated only for a moment. Then she took a small stone from the inside of her sleeves and swapped the stone with the pendant. A sigh of relief escaped her lips because there was no alarm. Slowly she made her way to the hallway. The only thing she had to do now was waiting.

Only 30 minutes later some of the servants and maids switched the lights of the mansion on and started their daily routine. Nanami stood in a corner near the main entrance and observed the servants. She was only waiting until one of the servants would leave the mansion to buy groceries and that didn't take long. A young boy headed towards the gate. She followed silently close behind. Even at the big iron gate were no incidents. It was 4:30 o'clock when Nanami finally left the mansion and headed towards the orphanage where she had left her backpack.

* * *

Sometimes, Nanami was ashamed of herself, that she would use the orphanage as a hideout but it was safer that way. If her cloak and working stuff were found here, nobody could conclude she was a thief. It was better than someone finding her stuff in her own hut. Back at the orphanage she gathered her backpack stuffed the cloak back into the flush and finally headed towards the pharmacy. She was exhausted to say the least. The distance between the 5th and the 62th district war rather large and she couldn't use flashstep. A normal human wouldn't be able to cover such a distance in only some hours but she wasn't a normal human in many ways. As most of the shinigami, she could use her own reiatsu to enhance her physical abilities. With a little bit more training she could also master flashstep due to her amount of reiatsu. She arrived in one of the sideways that were close to the pharmacy and checked her surroundings for traces of reiatsu and as she found none she finally released the thin layer of reiatsu that surrounded her.

* * *

Soi Fon didn't exactly know what she would tell Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ at all. On the outside, she appeared calm and collected but she had to admit that she was a little bit nervous whenever she was close to the strong and powerful head of the protection squads. Confidently, she knocked at the door in front of her.

"It's Soi Fon-_Taicho. _I am asking for permission to enter." She said politely. The office of squad one was near the centre of Seireitei.

"Permission granted." Said a low, yet firm voice that unmistakably belonged to Yamamoto-_Soutaicho. _Soi Fon entered and lowered her head in respect of the first division captain.

"I already expected you, Soi Fon-_Taicho._ What is it you wanted to talk to me about and that couldn't wait until the captains meeting next week?" His eyes were closed but despite that fact he exuded a kind of power that Soi Fon had never seen before. Even when his words were in a low gentle voice they were filled with authority and finality.

"Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_, during the last months the third part of the Special Forces have recognized that the crime rate is increasing rapidly, especially in the higher districts of Soul Society. I have received reports from my 4th seat and head of the third Special Forces squad that there were also some strange occurrences." Soi Fon paused for a moment and waited for a response from her superior. Her head was still lowered towards the ground but her voice was firm and the look in her eyes fierce.

"Please continue" Was the only response she got.

"Some artifacts disappeared without a single trace. In the last month altogether 12 artifacts were stolen and the owners haven't got a clue how someone could manage that. In most of these cases the owners only recognized coincidentally that some artifacts were missing at all. They were replaced with stones or branches and there is also the possibility of unreported cases." At first Soi Fon had believed that these old geezers simply were too stupid and had misplaced their beloved artifacts but the 12 reports had striking similarities.

"I understand. Is it possible that someone of the employees is the culprit?" Yamamoto-_Soutaicho _inquired.

"Omaeda-_fukutaicho _is checking that fact at the moment. Maybe there is a person or group of persons that had contact to the personal staff or some of the employees to get entrance, but at the moment there are no clues about that."

"What is your opinion, Soi Fon-_Taicho_?" Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ asked finally.

"I think that there is a group of highly skilled thieves that had contact to some of the personal staff. It is also strange that most of the owners only accidentally recognized the missing of artifacts. It is also strange that only some of the objects were robbed. For the moment it is most likely that someone from the staff in the mansions stole the artifacts. There are different possibilities. Maybe they were forced to steal or maybe they were part of a special organisation. In any case I highly recommend that there should be more shinigami patrolling the higher districts. I also have some spies whom have access to some intelligencers in the underground. Maybe one of them has a clue about that organisation." It was very likely that Soi Fon put too much effort into that matter, but she had to take these reports seriously as a squad-captain and commander of the Special Forces.

"I want your report about that matter, Dismissed." Was the only thing Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ said. His brows were knitted together in concentration and he couldn't ignore the feeling that something wasn't alright.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4: An Exceptional Offer

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: Enjoy it and please review :D.

* * *

**Chapter Four: An Exceptional Offer**

"That brat better should thank me for that…" Keisuke made his way towards the location Azumi had written in her note. The moon was bright and full. Only an owl cooed through the air and disturbed the peaceful silence. Keisuke had left the noisy and loud parts of this district behind. His face was calm, despite the circumstances. An excessively large amount of money in an envelope was placed in the inside of his cloak. However, his face never gave away the fact that he was indeed a little bit nervous.

Nanami had silently followed him for the last two nights. Now, she was only five feet behind him and could hear his cursing. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She would never trust a man like him. He slowed down his pace and finally stopped at the designated area. It was the backyard of a small hut that laid very secluded from the outside world. From the main road you couldn't watch what was happening here. Nanami's senses reached out to check the area for any traces of reiatsu or persons. After some minutes she finally let go of her camouflage and took some steps towards Keisuke.

"It's always nice to see you, my dear Azumi-_chan_." He smirked. He had hoped that she would be here, too.

Nanami's blue cloak swayed in the wind. The weather was getting colder and colder with every passing day and in two or three months it would be winter. She extended a hand towards Keisuke as a demand that he should hand over the envelope with the money. His hand vanished into the inside of his cloak and a white item surfaced, but besides that he did nothing.

"Tsubasa told me a nice story during our meeting." He said carefully. His voice became dead serious, his look stern. With a nod Nanami told him to continue.

"He had an extraordinary interest in a set of rings." This kind of communication was unnerving for him. He couldn't see her face nor could he guess what she was thinking in that moment. Compared to him she was able to clearly study his face and reactions. It was second nature for him to judge people on the basis of their appearance, gestures, words, behaviours and quirks. To talk to that peculiar woman was like talking to a wall.

"The first ring is called _Ring of Humbleness _and the second one is called _Ring of Pride. _Tsubasa didn't know the location of them." Nanami shook her head to signalize Keisuke that she wasn't interested to search for a pair of rings if the location was unknown to the person who wanted them.

"You should wait until I am finished. There are some special circumstances regarding that ancient pair of rings." He lectured her, his voice stern.

"The price Tsubasa is willing to pay accounts 8,4 billion Yen." First Keisuke hadn't trusted his own ears when he had first heard the price Tsubasa had told him. However, that artifact seemed important to him.

"You have to collect some information about the artifacts but the reward is worth the time. So… are you going to do the job?" Nanami wasn't quite sure whether to take the offer or not. After all, there were no clues where to find the rings and there also was no guarantee that these artifacts were harmless.

Nanami lifted her hand, thumb and index finger signalling Keisuke that she would need two days to consider that offer.

"You know that this would be much easier if you talked to me." One could detect that he indeed was a little bit angry with her. He tossed the envelope in her direction and left the backyard.

* * *

By all means, Nanami was a cautious person with everything she was doing. So it took the rest of the night to distribute the money to various institutions. Among them were schools, physicians, an orphanage and a poorhouse. Nanami didn't kept one Yen for herself. She had everything she could buy for money in her small hut at the outskirts of the 62th district and was grateful for that. There were people who couldn't work or were too young to do so. What Nanami was doing was like a reallocation of money within Soul Society. She stole from those persons who simply had enough of the silvery coins and gave them to people who really needed them to sustain themselves.

The next day Nanami spent hours searching for information about this set of rings in the Grand City Library. It had never happened before that Keisuke wasn't able to provide the location of an atrifact which made the task at hand all the more difficulty. Despite the large amount of money Tsubasa was ready to pay for those rings, Nanami would check them out. It was part of her philosophy. Even as thief she couldn't bear the thought that something she had stolen would cause hurt. Keisuke had often suggested that it would be much simpler to steal drugs, weapons or anything like that but she refused. It was the same way with artifacts only that it was much more tiring to get information about them. During the first six month of her "new profession" Nanami had spent much time in the Grand City library just for the matter of learning - learning about noble families, important artifacts, laws, institutions and so on. She had memorised streets and offices and had watched the behaviour of the nobles.

The work in the library wasn't easy, especially since she had to be silent. At night, she could barely recognize the titles of the scrolls, records and books. The library extended over three floors with a stairway in the middle. In the first floor was a card index and the second and third floor included some separated rooms for studying. Nanami browsed the index in hope of finding some clues about the rings but there were none. The tedious part of the work started here. On previous visits she had discovered books that contained chapters about artifacts but more importantly, she had found records which described the dangerousness of some of them.

Hours later, Nanami found a short article about this special set of rings. It detailed the origin of the ring and also a list of the known owners. Nanami's eyes widened, when she read that last part. The artifact wasn't dangerous nor was it a weapon what shocked her the most was the fact that the "_Ring of Pride_" belonged to the House of Kuchiki in the midst of Seireitei.

* * *

_I have one more day__. _That was the only thought Nanami had when she arrived at home this night. She was quite sure that Keisuke knew that the "_Ring of Pride_" belonged to one of the Four Great Noble Families. If Keisuke had told her about that fact the other day she would have declined this offer. Now she wasn't that sure anymore. It was a catchy task to get into Seireitei without someone noticing you. She would spend at least three whole months memorising the streets and setting up some hideouts. On the other hand, the payment was extraordinarily high. If she would continue stealing from the lesser noble families within the higher districts it might cost her half a year or more to acquire that amount of money and it was much more stressful work. But breaking in into Seireitei was a dangerous endeavour. The shinigamis there were no longer simple unseated members but captains and lieutenants. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. Making that decision made her head spin and she put her hands to her temples knowing a headache was on its way. It also worried her that she didn't know anything about the location of the second ring but if she decided to accept this offer then she also had access to the Seireitei Library that contained much more knowledge than the Grand City Library. As far as she knew, only shinigamis and members of the 46 chambers were permitted to enter that library. It was said that there were some undisclosed parts, too.

* * *

One day later Keisuke waited patiently for Azumi to make an appearance. He hadn't lied to her completely, but hadn't told the whole truth either. He knew the location of the "_Ring of Pride_", but at this time he expected her to know as well and when he was lucky, she would accept this offer. He ignited one of his cigarettes and stared at the wall across the street. The sun was already gone and the moon shone brightly, wrapping everything in a luminescent glint. His ears caught a soft tap and his eyes recognized the cloaked figure standing only five feet besides him.

"Do you accept the job?" Keisuke raised a brow and tilted his head in an asking manner and an inquiring expression on his face.

For some seconds nothing happened. She didn't move, knowing that her decision could be fatal. Even through the wide cloak Keisuke could feel her trepidation about that mission. Finally she nodded.

"Good girl… I don't think you will have any problems there just be careful around captains and lieutenants and everything will be alright." He gave her a toothy grin. Whatever would happen at this mission, he was in no danger. If she was successful, he would be a rich man and could afford everything he wanted. Maybe he was able to buy a house or a mansion in one of the upper districts. Azumi would carry all the risk and if she failed then death would be certain.

* * *

Nanami spent the next months gathering intelligence. She wanted to know everything about Seireitei, so she studied every night in the Grand City Library in the 4th district. She learned the routines of the shinigamis, their divisions, their squads, captains, lieutenants, laws, zanpakutou-types and everything else that would come in handy when she entered Seireitei. She also had to figure out a way to get into it in the first place. Some plans of the inner parts of Seireitei were available, too. Nanami looked them over as well. After that, she had some things in mind she could do in case of an emergency.

The days went on in that cycle. She would get up, go to work or visit the orphanage and after that she left for the 4th district in order to study the mechanics of Seireitei. She was also interested in the history of the protection squads - who knew if she would need that knowledge. Sometimes, it was a tedious and tiring work but she would learn as much as possible to feel a little safer. _As safe as you could possible feel as a thief surrounded by thousands of shinigamis. _It was kind of ironic. She tried to think of several occurrences and hindrances that could happen in Seireitei and she wanted to be prepared.

* * *

With two knocks of his cane Yamamoto-_Soutaicho _signalled that the captains meeting began. He looked at the captains in front of him. His eyelids hung heavy above his eyes and someone who didn't know him could think that he was resting. However, every single captain knew that his senses were fully alert and his eyes would catch every movement. Two month had passed since Soi Fon-_Taicho_ had told him about the dramatically increasing crime rate and those strange occurrences in the upper parts of West-Rukongai.

"Soi Fon-Taicho, please tell your fellow captains about your investigations during the last two months." He inquired, his voice low but full of authority.

"Two months ago my 4th seat had discovered strange similarities between different robberies during the last 3 months. The items missing were artifacts that were worth a small fortune. The disconcerting fact was that the owners didn't recognize the break-ins at first. There were no signs of forceful intrusions. There is a total of 20 reported cases about during the last three months and the dark figure might be very high, too. We tried to find a context between the robberies and the personal staff but found none. I think that an unknown organisation is behind those robberies but at the moment we have no clues at all." Soi Fon paused for a moment to look at her superior.

"Maybe someone from the personal staff is forced to steal. Have you looked into the background of the staff as well?" Hitsugaya-_Taicho_ asked, his voice as cold as the ice dragon himself.

"Of course, it's not the first time my division is investigating that kind of crime." Soi Fon-Taicho folded her arms across her chest and sent a menacing glare to the young prodigy.

"Do we have any clues what happened to the items?" This time, Ukitake-_Taicho_ inquired politely, trying to solve the problem.

"Yes we have. One of my spies reported that in the lower parts of West-Rukongai some physicians and charities were supported with generous amounts of money shortly after the robberies. After further investigations, he also told me that there were actually no names or persons behind that money. It seemed to appear out of nowhere. Maybe there is a connection between the strange support and the robberies." Soi Fon actually had a list with some of those institutions.

"A modern Robin Hood to say so." Kyoraku interjected.

"Steal from the rich and give it the poor, isn't that nice?" Ichimaru's fox like grin showed that he was amused about that fact.

Ukitake cleared his throat to get the attention of his fellow captains. "Soi Fon-_Taicho_, you certainly have a list with the locations that gained money from that group. Maybe we should talk to those people. They possibly know something about those persons."

"What if it isn't a group but a single person?" Hitsugaya suggested.

"We haven't found any connections between the personal staff and there were no forceful intrusions. The shinigamis from the border guards haven't picked up any trespassers as well." Soi Fon tried to explain to the young shinigami captain. She was slightly pissed at the stubborn boy. A frown crossed Hitsugayas face.

"The institutions… Are they in the same districts?" Again Ukitake tried to fathom that matter further.

Soi Fon turned her head to look at the sickly captain from the 13th division. "They are all distributed, sharing only the fact that they were situated in the lower districts of West-Rukongai."

The conversation continued in that manner without any further clues. Zaraki Kenpachi looked bored. If it weren't for the old man he would have already left to slice up the throats of those bandits. Kuchiki Byakuya's face looked stern and impassive as ever whilst Aizen Sosuke and Unohana Retsu had a smile on their face but kept quiet during the whole discussion.

"Enough of that. Soi Fon-_Taicho_, please try to discover the location of the missing items or at least some of them. Hitsugaya-_Taicho_, you are in charge of the investigation squad. Please search for some clues in the institutions that were supported. With that, you are all dismissed." His cane knocked at the ground two times to underline his last statement. The captains slowly dissipated and walked back to their assigned divisions.

* * *

Time passed rapidly but there was still one thing Nanami couldn't solve. Usually, the doors that led into the Seireitei were closed and the large protection wall was an insuperable hindrance. The thick wall was made of sekki sekki rock and surrounded all of Seireitei. That meant, that the only way inside was through the Western Gate that connected Seireitei with West-Rukongai. Jidanbou Ikkanzaka was the Western Gate Keeper and without exception he only let shinigami or owners of travel passports pass the gate. He possibly was the only one who could open the gate at all. Nanami didn't like the fact that she had to rely on someone else or her luck but there was no other way this time. She had to wait until a shinigami or passport user would travel between Seireitei and Rukongai so that she could sneak in.

It was the third month when she finally decided to try it. She positioned herself close to the gate keeper Jidanbou hoping that someone would attempt to pass through. Luckily, two shinigamis made their way towards the gate and asked for permission to enter Seireitei. The uniforms and zanpakutos identified them as shinigamis but nevertheless Jidanbou wanted to see the passports. When the giant opened the door for the two shinigamis, Nanami carefully sneaked behind them and entered Seireitei as well. In the first moment she was terrified. She expected that some shinigamis would come for her or had already recognized her intrusion and she reached out with her senses to search for any kind of threat. There was nothing. Nanami assured herself that there was no one trying to arrest her and she also checked her camouflage. Seireitei basically looked like the upper districts of Soul Society. The only difference was that shinigamis crossed her way every now and then but didn't notice her.

* * *

Within the Central 46 two figures made their way towards the exit. The white haori flattering behind them told everybody that the both of them were respected captains.

"So you want to move on, Aizen-sama." Ichimaru's grin was still in place.

Aizen, who rearranged his glasses, responded "It's time. Finally, Urahara made his move." A smug smirk played across his features. Gone was the nice and handsome captain of the 5th division and replaced by a man who just moments ago murdered 46 men and woman heinously. He showed no signs of ruefulness or sorrow.

* * *

Nanami continued her first walk within the Seireitei. What confused her the most was the fact that shinigamis could remember the path to their own division. Without the aid of the plans from the library she wouldn't even know how to get back to the gate. Seireitei was a maze. Wherever she looked there were walls. Panic gripped her when two shinigamis passed by close to her. They were deep in conversation but she didn't dare to take in the much needed air to fill her lungs. Every single sound could uncover her and from this place she couldn't escape. She pushed herself against the wall and tried to stop her raging heartbeat. She was nervous as hell. In this condition she wouldn't be able to steal anything at all but luckily, she wasn't here to steal something yet. It would take between two and three more weeks to get accustomed to that maze. Nanami also wanted some hideouts within Seireitei were she could hide should something go wrong.

The night was refreshing. Her first destination was the Kuchiki mansion and she wanted to explore the area around the estate. Her senses on alert, she prayed that no seated shinigamis where close when she sneaked off in the designated direction. The only problem was that she was too small. She couldn't jump over nor could she see behind the thick walls that surrounded her. She knew the general direction but there were dead ends everywhere. A sigh escaped her lips and she leaned on a wall. Desperately trying to recall the maps she had studied Nanami got up and continued her attempt to find that stupid mansion.

* * *

It was two hours later and well past midnight when she reached the estate. Exhausted she sat down and took a deep breath. Her nervousness had calmed down during the last hours and she had adjusted to the fading light that made this maze that much more bothersome. Finally, she had been able to remember some parts of the map and followed her memory. She nearly had bumped into a patrolling shinigami while running but everything worked out fine.

Having arrived at her destination, she was hiding in the garden of that damned mansion and was able to rest a little bit. She closed her eyes for a moment. It was hard for her to be on guard all the time especially with that much shinigamis around and it was even harder to concentrate were she had to go in the fading light. She opened her eyes again to take a look around. There was a small pond next to her. In front of the building was a shoji door that led to the inside of the mansion. The building itself was awesome and nothing compared to the mansions in the upper district. Surely this Kuchiki person had nothing against a heirloom that was stolen over night. Maybe he didn't even notice that something was missing. Those people were so damn rich it was almost sickening. Nanami pondered about that matter a little bit longer when she saw him.

She didn't know what she expected from a noble from the Grand Four Noble Families but this man certainly was part of that family. Nanami hadn't heard him nor had she felt his reiatsu but now she noticed him. He was standing near the shoji door and attempted to go in. His black hair fell in gentle waves against his shoulders and in front of his face, concealing his grey eyes. His kimono was deep blue as well as his hakama. He was a shinigami she noticed. His sword was placed on his left side, his left hand rested firmly on his hilt. The shining moonlight accentuated his fair skin. Not that she could see much of his skin. His whole appearance was that of a god. The rays of the moonlight encased him, touched him and he seemed to be illuminated by them. It was fascinating and she found herself staring at the man in front of her. She would have denied it when someone asked her but he was otherworldly and handsome yet a dangerous shinigami that could conceal his reiatsu very well. Maybe it was that combination that drew her towards him.

Nanami remembered the purpose of her intrusion just in time to not move forward and make any noise that would give her away immediately. But the image from him standing near the door, illuminated by the moonlight, his features relaxed but nonetheless proud had carved itself into her memory and she was sure she would never forget that picture. She kept still completely and just watched him. His right hand was about to pull the door open when he stopped. His left hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. His head never turned but his eyes did. They searched for something. His relaxed features changed to a cold and impassive mask. _He can sense me. _That was the only thought that occurred to her and it made her panic. She didn't dare to breath nor did she dare to move at all but she was quite sure her hammering heartbeat would give her away.

"Show yourself." It was no question but a demand in a cold stern voice that didn't allow any denial. His features showed indifference.

She didn't move and stayed where she was situated. He walked towards her. A single noise from her and he would realize that she was sitting besides the small pond. She tried to gain control of herself while he took two more steps in her direction. They were separated by less than six feet. Only two more steps and he would stumble over her. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst, silently praying for a miracle.

"Byakuya-_sama_" A voice echoed through the darkness of the night. Byakuya turned his head in the direction of a young servant.

"Byakuya-_sama_, your grandfather wants to discuss some family matters with Masahiro-_sama_ and he requests your presence. They are waiting in the library." With a bow the servant retreated.

When Nanami opened her eyes again she saw him disappearing behind the closing shoji doors. A small sigh of relief escaped her. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to steal that damn rings especially when this man could sense her in some way.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5: Preparations

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: Enjoy it and please review :D.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Preparations**

After that first frightening incident Nanami decided to check to what extent the captains and vice captains were capable of detecting her. She was quite sure that the Kuchiki would have stumbled over her when the servant wouldn't have interrupted him. Now she knew that this Kuchiki-guy was not only a simple noble, but captain of the sixth division, too. Stealing that ring would be very difficulty but nothing she couldn't handle.

The following two weeks Nanami tried to find out more about the captains of the protection squads. The first captain she looked up was Hitsugaya Toshiro. He was a prodigy and captain of the 10th division. Despite his young age he had achieved bankai and burdened himself with the lead of a whole division. Luckily, the 10th wasn't that far away from the West Gate, where Nanami usually sneaked in.

"Matsumoto, did you start doing the paperwork." A really angry looking young white haired boy yelled at his fukutaicho.

"Aaaah my cute little Taicho, you shouldn't be so grumpy and overwork your poor fukutaicho that much." Matsumoto chirped cheerfully.

Nanami couldn't suppress the smile that crossed her face. It was like the both of them changed places. Whilst the young captain looked like a child he behaved as composed as a real captain should. His fukutaicho Matsumoto on the other hand was nothing near that. The busty woman acted like a spoiled child that didn't want to do anything except drinking sake in huge amounts. Nanami sighed in relief. Neither the young captain nor his fukutaicho sensed her even when she was that close. She stayed in the division office and was quite pleased that they didn't detect her one bit. Hopefully, Kuchiki-Taicho would be the only exception, but Nanami intuitively knew that at least Yamamoto-Soutaicho could sense her, too. However, what Hitsugaya said next caught her attention.

Hitsugaya glared at Matsumoto. "You really should do the paperwork. I have to investigate that criminal organisation Soi Fon-_taicho_ told us about."

"You said it is only one person." Matsumoto replied. Nanami's eyes narrowed. Maybe it was not that bad to spy on the captains. It sounded like they sent someone to search for information regarding the break-ins in West-Rukongai.

"I am quite sure that it is only one person - a very skilled person. " A frown appeared on Hitsugaya's forehead.

"Taicho, why don't you let Soi Fon-_taicho_ handle that and have a cup of sake with me?" Matsumoto inquired the young captain.

If looks could kill Matsumoto would be dead by now. "MATSUMOTO, you – you just do that damn paperwork NOW." By now Hitsugaya was yelling, his stare cold and unyielding.

"Matsumoto?"

"MATSUMOTOOOOOO!!" But the fukutaicho already flashstepped away and was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Besides Nanami's further investigations with the captain's abilities she also tried to prepare some hideouts within Seireitei in case of emergency. It was an advantage that nobody really knew her face so she could easily meld into the people. The trick was to act like you were a part of them so Nanami hid some shinigami clothes in her hideouts as well as some food and water. With that she could survive for at least three days.

The weather was refreshing today. Nanami went to Seireitei earlier then the previous weeks. It was easier for her to find her way trough that maze in the suns light then at nighttime. Her destination was the 5th division that laid close to the Central 46. She turned right and left and after some minutes passed she found herself in front of a great, round building. It didn't look like the 5th division. There were also no signs or indications that this was a protection squad building at all. Searching for some clues were she was, Nanami found herself close to the entrance gate, which wasn't guarded. Seemingly that place wasn't worth guarding. The whole building appeared to be abandoned. Nanami couldn't sense any shinigamis around. It was strange, maybe a trap. Curiosity killed the cat and Nanami went forward towards the gate and tried to open it. There was no lock or something like that, it just opened.

After the long walkway that was enclosed by flowerbeds she reached a door that lead into a great room. Her first impression was that the room looked like a cinema but there was no screen. Except the daylight it was very dark inside. She could barely see the stairs that led down in the middle. Following the staircase Nanami reached the ground of that great room and prodded forward – step by step. In the distance she could recognize a person sleeping on a chair. She took another step and another one until she was behind that person.

The scene that unfolded in front of her shocked her to the core. The person wasn't sleeping, he was dead. There was no reiatsu or any other signs that he was still alive. But the fact that confirmed her suspicion the most was the large amount of dried blood. It wasn't only one person there were dozens of other people, too. All were dead - slaughtered like pigs. Some of them held a shocked expression others died with a snack in their hands completely unaware of their destiny. This cruelty was too much to bear for her. She couldn't look at this massacre and stumbled towards the staircase to leave that horrible sight. Trembling hands clenched and Nanami's face was as pale as snow. _I have to leave this place._ That was the only thought she had when she rushed to the exit.

* * *

Whatever happened in there it wasn't her business. She was surrounded by shinigamis and they could handle something like that easily. _Maybe they don't know._ Her inner voice reprimanded her. It was a possibility that the protection squads hadn't noticed that massacre, yet. The dried blood supported that assumption. _Maybe I should tell them, but who will believe something like that. _It wasn't easy for Nanami to handle a situation like this. On one hand she wanted to tell someone about the dead people but on the other hand there was nobody who would believe her. There also was the problem how she could tell them about the happenings. She couldn't just barge into the office of a captain and tell them about the massacre. _I can leave a note in one of the captain's offices._ _It is strange that nobody noticed the massacre until now. I think I can warn them and leave a note. I can't just let it be that way._

The next question was which captain should receive that note. The captain of the 8th division Kyoraku Shunsui was a lazy ass and he wouldn't lift a finger in that matter. The 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th division captains were just weird and Nanami didn't trust them at all. Especially the captain of the 12th division was a sick bastard. She had seen how he hid in walls and stairways to spy on his subordinates and future victims. _I feel queasy just to think about that person._ No, that captain certainly would use the corpses for his own evil experiments instead of doing some investigations. The 6th division captain Kuchiki Byakuya was no alternative, too. He would investigate that crime for sure but Nanami didn't want to get close to him anytime soon. The last incident was frightening enough and she wouldn't push her luck again. Yamamoto-Soutaicho would detect her, too. That left only 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th and 13th division. Ukitake-taicho was a kind and well respected person but at the moment he was also quite sick.

After a lot of contemplation, Nanami decided to leave a note at Hitsugaya-_taicho's_ desk. He would read it the next day. She hadn't signed the note with her codename so he would consider it an anonymous tip. Even if Nanami had seen Hitsugaya-_taicho_ only twice she knew that he was a very diligent and accurate person. She would leave that matter to him and continue with her own _work_. After the terrifying discovery that afternoon she had to be more careful than usual. It was most likely that the whole Seireitei would be shocked when they found the victims and they all would try to find the murderer. With that thought Nanami realized something else. If she stole the _Ring of Pride_ from the Kuchiki Estate they might think that she also murdered these men's or that these two occurrences were related somehow.

She couldn't do anything right now. She would wait until they discovered the victims and see what actions they took. Maybe it wasn't that bad at all. In that turmoil it was much easier to steal the ring because Kuchiki-_taicho _was most likely busy hunting down the murderer.

* * *

"MATSUMOTO, you - you should do the paperwork." He yelled at his fukutaicho.

Matsumoto only giggled. "Ah, my cute little Taicho, you are still young and you should enjoy your youth to the fullest."

He raised an eyebrow. "And that means what?"

"You should go out, meet some nice ladies and get drunk."

"I head towards these charity buildings that were supported by that Robin Hood and you do the damn paperwork." With that he left the room, leaving a sighing Matsumoto behind.

"Ah my Taicho is still so overworked. He should have some fun." Matsumoto grabbed a stack of paperwork lying on Hitsugaya's desk. She saw a crumpled piece of paper lying next to the stack and put it aside to read its contents.

_Dear Hitsugaya-Taicho,_

_There were strange occurrences close to the Central 46. You should check them out._

_Anonym_

"Those kids have to play such pranks. No wonder that my cute Taicho is so aggressive." With that Matsumoto threw the note into the trash.

* * *

Nanami wouldn't dare to go back to that Central 46 place and look if someone cleaned up the mess. Only thinking about the slaughtered people made her sick and she wouldn't go there again even when hell would freeze over. Hitsugaya-_taicho_ was certainly investigating that misdeed as well. Nanami went on with her daily strolls in Seireitei and with every passing day she got more and more accustomed to the ways of the shinigamis. Most of the day she spent in one of the various divisions to analyze the abilities of the squads, captains and vice captains.

She sneaked towards the 3rd division. Within two weeks time she had memorised most of the streets and central points as well as the barracks and offices of each division. Today she wanted to check the 3rd division. She had already seen the captain Ichimaru Gin twice. His fox like grin was remarkable and he had a smug attitude. Nanami noticed that he was well respected in his division especially from his vice captain Kira Izuru who sometimes lacked confidence.

However Nanami had a feeling that behind that fox like grin was a genius that knew how to pull strings. As usually, Nanami stayed out of sight and just walked behind Ichimaru Gin. It seemed that he couldn't notice her but she wasn't quite certain. He walked towards his office and sat down. Leaning back in his chair he only stared out of the window. He held a relaxed expression but his smile was still plastered on his face. Nanami sat down in a corner of the office. It was already getting dark outside.

_Knock__. Knock._

"Come in." The door wasn't locked. Ichimaru turned his head.

"Ichimaru-_taicho_, I assume you are behind the last incidents." Aizen's voice was serious, yet respectful.

Ichimaru grinned. "Maybe you are right. I think her brother will bring her back in time."

"You like to see them struggle, don't you?" The voice of Aizen-_taicho_ was still firm and serious but his eyes sparkled and it seemed he had to suppress the smirk that threatened to appear.

Ichimaru leaned onto the desk in front of him and folded his hands. "I only want to play; you should know that already, Aizen-_taicho_."

"Do not play with fire. You can burn your hands." Was the warning he got. With a definite thud Aizen closed the door and walked back to his own division. Only some more weeks and his plans would come into fruition. But for the time being he had to be patient.

"Aizen-_taicho_, there is no need to worry. Everything went accordingly to my plan." His fox-like grin grew even wider. He grabbed the first paper of the stack on his desk and started the tedious paperwork. Every captain had to go through that routine day for day. It was troublesome.

Nanami was still cowering in a corner of the office and overheard the whole conversation. Silently she wondered what they where talking about. Maybe these "_incidents_" Aizen-_taicho_ referred to had something to do with the Central 46. In her mind she went over the discussion again and she also thought about Aizen's warning at the end. _Something is definitely fishy with the both of them or at least Ichimaru-taicho_.

She left the office after midnight. Ichimaru was long gone and some shinigamis patrolled on the streets of Seireitei. It was a mild night at this time of the year. Heck, it was already autumn and in a little more than a month it was winter. Nanami had read that the winter in the human realm was way harsher than the winter in the Soul Society. Nevertheless, the nights were cold and frosty, too. Walking down the nearly empty streets of Seireitei was calming in a way. A gentle breeze played with the edges of her cloak and carried the scent of fresh cloves. Somewhere nearby had to be a garden or park. Nanami knew she was right. She had a consolidated knowledge about plants and flowers after all and over the years her scent of smell had improved greatly. Revelling in the scent Nanami almost collided with a shinigami. Only inches before she would have bumped into the dark silhouette she got out of the way.

She turned her head and froze. Her eyes widened in shock and her heartbeat increased rapidly, she wouldn't even dare to breathe. The person next to her was the person she didn't want to see anytime soon again. However, this time Kuchiki Byakuya didn't stop in his tracks down the alley, musing in his own thoughts. He wore the usual captains-attire together with a scarf and the kenseikan that indicated his position as head of the family. Something wasn't right today, Nanami thought. The last time he could easily sense her but this time he simply moved on. His shoulders were stiff, his steps firm and his eyes were narrowed. _It seems that something is troubling him. _Nanami couldn't help it and followed him. It was a risk to do that but she was curious what happened to him. Maybe it was because of that Central 46 incident but he didn't strike her like the person that was easily shocked by something like that. He was a captain after all.

The night was beautiful and the gentle breeze that carried the scent of cloves held on. Kuchiki-_taicho_ went towards the small garden as Nanami expected him to do. There was also a rivulet. He stopped in the middle of the tiny bridge that overdrew the rivulet. His movements were graceful and Nanami could tell that he was a cautious person. He wouldn't trip or fall over something nor would he stumble. To be precise, he moved with the elegance of a jungle cat and exuded strength, pride and confidence. Nanami wondered what was on his mind that he didn't notice her at all. Maybe it was just a coincidence last time. His face held no detectable emotion except impassiveness and aloofness. His angles were hard, his eyes cold. Nothing of that man standing on the bridge reminded Nanami of the man she had seen only two weeks ago in this beautiful garden. Back then, his expression had been relaxed and soft. The moonlight had danced across his skin and his body had been at ease. Now she could literally see the tension in his body. Whatever happened to him, it wasn't a pleasant experience. She moved a step closer before she reminded herself that this man was one of the most dangerous captains for her. _What am I doing here anyway? I should be thankful that he didn't notice me but instead of turning the other way I followed him. Am I stupid? He will kill me the moment he realizes that I am here._

Nanami decided not to push her luck and left the place and Seireitei. It was already late and she didn't want to stay here for the night. However that man was a mystery to her and she was silently grateful that he was distracted that much. Otherwise this could have ended in a disaster for her. However, she wouldn't take a risk by stealing the _Ring of Pride_. The next day was a free day for her and she would have enough time during the day to search for the ring. Kuchiki-_taicho_ was in the office during that time of the day and so she had nothing to worry about and could take her time.

* * *

"MATSUMOTO!!" Yelled the white haired captain at a very drunk Matsumoto.

Matsumoto laid on the couch in the office, several papers were flying through the air and lots of the so called paperwork adorned the trash. "Whaz up, Whitey-_chan? _Just doin paperwork." She lifted a bottle of sake to underline her statement.

"Whitey-_chan_?? I don't believe that!" The prodigy was furious and what angered him most was that he couldn't even scold her properly because she was totally drunk. It was useless to yell at her when she was like this. He turned around and left the office.

* * *

"Soi Fon-_taicho_, Special Force head of squad three is here. I ask for permission to enter." Said the young man in front of the 2nd division office.

"Permission granted. Do you have any new information's about the West-Rukongai incidents?" Soi Fon merely raised an eyebrow at the young seated officer.

He bowed respectfully before he started his report. "Soi fon-_taicho_, we have searched for some clues in the underground and I contacted some of my spies to gather intelligence. It seems that nobody really knows what is going on there and lots of the underground gangs were angry because they didn't get a chance to earn some coins."

"Did you get some information's regarding the group we are searching for? Maybe a codename or something like that?" Soi fon asked.

"They have no clues about that group either but they told me about a man that earned a large amount of money in a short period of time. It is said that he is a dealer whose trade goods are really rare artefacts. We don't know his real name, but his codename is _Tsubasa_. Maybe he has something to do with these crimes."

"Gather information about that _Tsubasa_ and find out his true identity but do not make a move. Maybe we can observe him. We have no evidence that he committed any crimes after all. Dismissed!" Soi fon ordered. Finally they were getting somewhere. The last weeks they had no clue about that gang. It was the first real hint they got.

* * *

The next morning Nanami visited the orphanage. She wasn't there for the last days and she knew that Tomoko and Isamu would be upset when she didn't show up today. After that she went towards the upper districts and crossed the border guards in the 5th. Easy as always but Nanami wasn't the person to let her guard down. She paid full attention to the things she was doing. One mistake could be fatal for her. Her destination was the Kuchiki-estate. It was still forenoon and except the clan elders and servants nobody would be in the vicinity. Maybe she could steal this ring today if she was really lucky but it wasn't today's goal. First she wanted to check the location and the inside of the mansion.

Getting into Seireitei was as simple as always. Other than the last two weeks she headed directly towards the Kuchiki-estate. She was there in only some minutes. The biggest problem was that many shinigami were on the streets. Maybe she could get a map of the sewer. Moving around during the day would be much easier that way. Sadly, only the members of the 4th division had maps from the sewer and they had to memorise them during the first weeks in the division. Maybe she would borrow one someday.

She arrived at the Kuchiki-estate and entered through the main gate. Some of the windows were open and so the access to the main part of the mansion was fairly easy. Lots of servants were running errands and cleaning up the rooms. Hastily, they gathered together dirty clothes, trash and the ashes from the fireplaces. All of the servants were afoot. Nanami was worried that someone would accidentally bump into her which nearly happened twice. The whole main house was that big and nothing compared to the smaller buildings of the lesser noble families in the upper districts outside of Seireitei.

It took her nearly all of the day to discover the room where the _Ring of Pride_ actually was. Nanami had thought that the ring would be in the west wing of the building where all the antiques and heirlooms were located. However this ring was in a large room that lacked furniture. There was only a bookcase that reminded her more of a shrine than a bookcase. A servant was cleaning the room and the shrine and while doing that, he opened the shrine's door. Nanami spied the _Ring of Pride_ from afar. She would wait until the servant left the room. It was already late and it would only be a matter of minutes until Kuchiki-_taicho_ would be back at home. Hopefully, she wasn't here anymore when that happened.

Silently, she observed the servant cleaning up the room. One window was open and the fresh autumn air flowed in. It was kind of relaxing. This servant was extremely slow in tidying up the room. She searched for any nearby reiatsu but found none. It was risky to stay here because Kuchiki Byakuya could be here any minute and she wasn't quite sure if she could detect his reiatsu in time to flee. The last two times she hadn't noticed his presence when he was standing next to her or only some steps away from her.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the door opened and revealed the person that moments ago occupied her mind. Her senses were sharp. She knew that she could detect even minor reiatsu traces but he could suppress his reiatsu in such a manner that it was terrifying.

"Byakuya-_sama_" The servant greeted his master respectfully with a small bow. Byakuya nodded towards his personal servant and wordlessly dismissed him.

Nanami started to panic. Here she was in a room with the person she wanted to steal from and most likely one of the few persons who could sense her. That fact was really frightening. She stopped her movements and tried to control her breathing. Maybe he was still in the same mood as yesterday and didn't notice her. Nanami was lucky two times but his eyes that heedfully scanned the room told her that he was fully aware of the fact that he wasn't alone. Her eyes widened when he unsheathed his zanpakuto and the only thing Nanami could hear was his firm voice.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura"

* * *


	6. Chapter 6: Messed Up

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters.

A/N: A new chapter is up, please read and enjoy it :D

* * *

**Chapter Six: Messed Up**

His sword dispersed into thousands of pink coloured petals that circled Kuchiki Byakuya in a defensive manner. It seemed that they wanted to protect their master. Nanami had read something about zanpakutou-types and she assumed that this was the shikai state or first release of his sword. Mesmerized, Nanami looked at the fluidly gliding petals. Despite their beauty her senses were fully alerted, her eyes fixated on the man who controlled the pink flood.

"Show yourself."

His cutting, stern voice sliced through the quietness of the room like knifes through butter. However, he received no response from the female cowering under the window. Kuchiki Byakuya was a man who could trust his senses. He knew that something was in the room. It was a change in the air that alerted him when he entered the room today. He couldn't pinpoint it but he had the same feeling as on the evening some days ago in his private garden. Whoever tried to hide from his preying eyes was very good. Silently, he scanned the room for any clues where his opponent was. He let Senbonzakura circle him to protect himself from any attacks against him. Anger begun to show on his face due to his own inability to spot the intruder and the lack of response. Whoever was sneaking around his property would pay dearly. He wouldn't repeat his command again and this time no servant would interrupt him.

The rosy petals dissipated in different directions of the room. It took Nanami only some seconds to discern that Kuchiki Byakuya might be one of the few Taichos that could detect her but he wasn't able to locate her position completely. Nonetheless, fear gripped her heart by the mere thought what this man would do to her if this pink flood would get a hold of her.

A pink petal sliced her left sleeve. It was then that Nanami realized that the beautiful looking petals were sharp blades. Deadly and dangerous, yet beautiful und mesmerising. _Like the wielder of that zanpakutou. _Byakuya directed some of his petals towards the door to cut the escape route of the intruder. Some other petals whirled around and made their way into the corners of the room. The task of dodging them was difficult and was getting more tedious with passing time. The sleeves of her cloak were already torn. The door wasn't an option to escape these pink petals. Nanami decided to sneak towards the back of the room while her eyes never left the man commanding Senbonzakura. His eyes were closed and Nanami assumed that he tried to discern her position in the room.

It was impossible for Nanami to dodge them all. Some petals already started to cut her arms and legs. In seconds her cloak was soaked in blood and it became more difficult with every passing second to uphold the thin layers of reiatsu that covered her. Her arms ached, sweat poured down her face and she had to be careful that no blood fell to the ground and would give her position away. _I am as good as dead. _Everything would be over when this man saw her. Determination and the fear of death pushed her towards her limits.

A blood covered petal told Byakuya that he was right. He almost started to curse himself inwardly for his foolishness. Hunting down a ghost was nothing a Kuchiki would be proud off and he would have denied it until the day he died. Whatsoever there was someone in this room that wasn't a ghost but a living person and the blood soaked petal was proof of that. He commanded the petals in every corner of the room but it was to no avail. The person stayed hidden in the shadows. That a hiding technique like that even existed was intriguing for Byakuya but nothing of that thought reached the coolness and aloofness of his face.

And then it happened. A drop of blood fell to the ground. Byakuya instantly commanded his petals in this direction of the room. The small drop was close to the entrance door. _I've got you_, Byakuya thought and his eyes narrowed. In a spiral pattern the pink petals shoot towards the spot on the floor and Byakuya assumed that the bleeding person wasn't far away.

His voice was completely detached of any emotion. "You will not get out of this alive." _No one will mess with me in my own estate and will get out of this unharmed._

The soft crunching of the shrine's door reached Byakuya's ears and he turned in time to see the _Ring of Pride _disappearing. _That cocky little brat. _In the blink of an eye he flashstepped towards the shrine and his sword reformed into its original shape. He was cutting the air around him but it was in vain. It dawned on him that the blood on the ground was to distract him. He fell for such an old trick that it angered him all the more. Inwardly he cursed himself but he would never allow such words to grace his tongue. He tried to concentrate on the presence of the intruder but found none. It was impossible for someone to be as stealthy and slippy as this bastard.

* * *

Nanami fell to the ground in one of her hideouts in Seireitei. Her arms and hands were bleeding profoundly as well as her knees and legs. Her cape was completely torn and dirty. She settled down in a corner and tried to catch her breath. This was an adventure she would remember the rest of her life. Never had she been in such a horror of being killed by a shinigami. The 6th division captain would have slaughtered her without a second thought and this was frightening. She would never let that man get close to her ever again or it would be her own demise. His cold eyes and aloof features were etched into her mind as well as his with anger contorted face when she stole the ring. Nanami had no doubt that this man would hunt her down until she was dead. The mere thought of him made her shiver. She was lucky that she got out of that alive today.

She reached into the insides of her sleeves and plugged out the small object that nearly ruined her life. _Sometimes I really think I am out of my mind to do that job._ She knew that it was risky to get close to Kuchiki Byakuya but she did it nonetheless. He would probably start a chivvy to get a hold of her and execute her himself. His eyes were as cold as the winter in the human realm and his behaviour this evening told her clearly that he wouldn't show mercy. The jewel that adorned the ring sparkled and Nanami's face grew more and more stressed. Her thoughts turned inward, her eyes were filled with sorrow and sadness. That ring could save at least 100 people from a near death experience. With the money she could support several charities and give some people a better quality of live. It was worth it in the end. She silently had to remind herself that the other half of the set was missing.

Her eyelids got heavier with every passing second and she could feel the exhaustion of the day wash over her in an instant. She discarded the torn cloak and wanted to clean the wounds that were inflicted by Senbonzakura. Luckily, she never got hit full force from one of his attacks but that didn't make her cuts sting anything less. In a dark corner of the small storeroom lay a clean standard shinigami uniform. Nanami had hidden the pieces of cloth some weeks ago. Now she was thankful for her providence. In the inner layer of the shihakusho was the number four sewed in. It was only a sparring uniform and nobody would miss them. At the moment Nanami felt too tired and exhausted to even care where the uniform was from. She was grateful for the warm clothing and finally closed her eyes to get a little bit sleep. Some early birds already chirped and a few shinigami were on the streets of Seireitei on their way to the barracks. But at the moment Nanami couldn't care less, all what she wanted was sleep some minutes. _I will be late for work. _That was the last coherent thought she had.

* * *

A servant knocked at the door. His usually kind face showed a little bit of something akin to fear. He didn't know what happened to his master but he was in an extremely bad mood after his visit of the shrine of Hisana-_sama_. Even after over 50 years Byakuya-_sama_ visited the shrine of his late wife on a regular basis. However he had sensed the menacing waves of his reiatsu earlier today.

"Byakuya-_sama_, Hioshi-san is here. I want to ask for permission to enter." The old servant said politely. He had seen Byakuya-_sama_ grew up from a bratty, obnoxious boy into a proud, diligent man. Over the years he learned how to control his temper and emotions and it was rare to feel his reiatsu that out of control, even if it was only for an instant. Patiently, the old servant waited for a response from his young master. Seconds turned into minutes until he got an answer from the other side of the door that led into Byakuya-_sama's_ private study.

"You may enter."

"Byakuya-_sama_, Masahiro-_sama_ has requested your presence for the elders meeting tomorrow afternoon. It will start at 7 pm." The servant delivered his message. Byakuya was sitting cross legged on a tatami mat in front of the fireplace. He looked calm on the outside, but Hioshi could tell that he was boiling from the inside and he could barely suppress his raging reiatsu. Whoever angered him to that point would pay for it. The last time he saw him like that was because of an evil demon cat that stole his hair tie. Back then his rage was plainly obvious. He had learned to control it but his self control was cracking. Hioshi thought that he was close to going on a killing spree.

With a nod Byakuya dismissed the servant. Hioshi was not far away from the truth about his young master. Byakuya was boiling with anger from the inside. His reiatsu sent violent waves when he thought about the disgrace of being tricked from a mere thief in his own estate. It angered him all the more that this one got away, twice. He would hunt him down and kill him himself with his own hands. Nobody could stomp on his pride in that way. He clenched his hands into fists, his face contorted with rage once again. A rare display of emotion played across his features. It was something else he was furious about.

* * *

Hours passed and the sun rose. In Seireitei everybody was afoot. Patrolling or sparring was their daily business.

"Hey get up, sleepyhead." Nanami could feel a light kick against her ribcage. The shining light that fell through the door blinded her and she had to blink to see anything at all. Two shinigami were standing in front of her. Obviously they searched for something within the storeroom Nanami was resting in.

"What division you are in?" The second one asked. He was more polite than the first one and smirked at her.

Startled Nanami replied the first thing that entered her mind. "I am from the fourth division."

Her senses kicked in and her head started to work again. She remembered the last night and the incident in the Kuchiki estate. She came here to rest and to tend her wounds. _Oh my god and I will be late for work. I will be really late._

The first one looked her over with a quizzical expression. "I never saw you around. Strange thing, I've got really good friends in the 4th."

"I am not a seated officer and our division has got more than 300 members." In this situation's Nanami was glad she learned that much about the protection squads.

"Yeah yeah, your right. But we have to report you for slacking off." The first one grinned. In Nanami's opinion it was a wicked grin.

"You do not need to report me. I am free for today so I can do whatever I want to do." Nanami tried to blend in into the mass as always. It worked out well in the upper districts. Suddenly the first one violently gripped her arm and lifted her up. He was at least one foot taller than her. He pressed her against the wall and caged her with his arms.

"I don't think you will go anywhere anytime soon." He licked his lips.

"And nobody will miss you today. So you can spend some time with me and I will not report you." He leaned down to steal a kiss from the struggling female he held captive. This was a nice change in that colourless day for him. His smug smirk grew even bigger.

Nanami still felt weak from the night's activities. She knew what the both of them were trying to do. "Let go of me you perverted bastard."

She struggled against the firm grip of the first shinigami. The second one turned towards the door and looked for any nearby shinigami. Nothing happenend. It even seemed that this bastard enjoyed her defiance. His smug smirk only angered her more. She hated men like those two. She raised her knee and performed a well aimed kick into his balls. _Maybe that will cease his perverted behaviour. _He screamed aloud and pain was written all over his face. With one hand he held his groin. His grip on her arm loosened and she could free herself.

"Stop screaming, baka. The whole division will hear you." The second one peeked inside the room. He saw the woman trying to free herself from his friends grip and she managed to get away in some seconds.

The first officer got a hold of himself. "You will pay for that." He gripped Nanami by the throat and hit her hard into the face. A scream of agony escaped her and Nanami felt her world swirl. Her vision grew blurry but she refused to give in to the darkness encompassing her. A small line of blood made its way along her chin. Her lips and cheek were swollen from the hit and the peach coloured skin already changed into a dull blue colour. Nanami tried to get rid of the dizziness that occupied her mind. First she had to fend off Kuchiki Byakuya only to get caught by two scumbags. _Out of the frying pan into the fire. _

Nanami was too tired and too weak to fight against the two of them. Fear gripped her once again. Maybe the both of them didn't kill her but there are much worse things they could do to a woman. She struggled against his hands on her throat and tried to breath. Her heart was pounding vigorously and increased its pace with every passing second.

"Hurry, baka. I am next." She could hear the impatience in the voice of the man in front of the storeroom. The first one pressed her against the wall again never ceasing his firm grip on her throat. With the other hand he already fumbled with the ends of her obi and tried to open it. His knees held down her own legs. She was utterly helpless in this situation.

"Now we will have some fun." He whispered with a menacing dark voice that urged her to try anything again. Despite the fear of what was going to happen next Nanami spit into his face and screamed for help at the top of her lungs. Her behaviour only earned her another blow against her cheek. She collapsed on the floor and spit out some blood that formed in her mouth.

"Bitch" The first one said and aimed a kick into her stomach. Nanami prepared for the pain to come and closed her eyes. However she felt nothing at all. The next time she looked up a handsome looking young man held the first shinigami by the collar and threw him against the wall of the small storeroom. With a loud bang parts of the wall cracked open and the shinigami was bleeding from a wound on the head. Obviously he was unconscious. She could barely make out the features of the young man in front of her because of the bright light that shone through the door. He offered a hand to help her getting up and she gladly took it.

"I'm hoping you're alright. Those two will be punished accordingly." The shinigami led her to the door of the small room.

Nanami noticed the badge around his right arm. _He is a fukutaicho_. "Thank you for your help, fukutaicho." She bowed respectfully in front of him.

"Ah you don't have to do this." He scratched the back of his head. It was rare that a shinigami was that formal to him. He looked the woman over once again.

Curiosity killed the cat. "You are not from the 9th division. What are you doing in these parts of Seireitei and what division you are from?"

Nanami had the feeling that it was getting from worse to worst. This fukutaicho might have saved her from the two bastards but he wouldn't let her off the hook that easily.

She hated lying - especially to a very kind man like him. "I'm from the 4th division. Today is my day off and I slept there for the night because I was entirely too exhausted last night to go home." At least she told him half of the truth.

He contemplated her answer and finally smiled. "I'm such a pushover sometimes." He scolded himself playfully. "You are actually still wearing your uniform so I only have to look. Is it common within the 4th that you are not carrying your zanpakuto with you?"

"We don't need to carry it all the time. We only have to carry them in state of emergency." Nanami had read about the procedure in the Grand City Library. Every shinigami could decide for him if he wanted to keep the zanpakuto all the time or not in the time of peace.

"I think you're right." He smirked and scratched the back of his head again. He looked entirely cute when he did this Nanami thought and smiled. "I will escort you back to the division and I hope you are not thinking that bad about the 9th. Are you able to flashstep?"

"I'm sorry. I can not perform that flashstep thing. I'm not even a seated officer." Nanami nearly cried again when she felt two strong arms lifting her from the ground.

"Then I will carry you back to the fourth, if that's ok with you." He shifted his grip twice in order to not to lose her during the trip to the barracks.

"Ahh, fukutaicho please let me down, I can walk on my own." She pleaded but her pleas met deaf ears and before she could form another complain he already moved forward. In a matter of seconds he jumped from roof to roof and ran along the walls. Nanami panicked at this frightening high pace and buried her head into his shihakusho. Her hands clasped the thin cloth that covered his chest tightly.

He was amused about the young woman in his arms. Her behaviour was unique. He had to admit that it was nice that she clamped that tightly against his shihakusho. Maybe she would tell him her name when they reached their destination. The trip towards the barracks was shorter than she had expected and after the male halted in his track she dared to look where she was.

She had to hold her breath when she heard his soft and gentle voice. His face was only inches away from her. "Here we are."

She could feel his breath against her face. He was definitely too close she decided and hopped out of his arms. "Thank you for bringing me here." She turned to leave.

"Wait. Can you tell me your name?" He asked politely. His smile was long gone and his face held a serious note but she couldn't detect anything close to hostility. Her eyes softened a little bit. After all that young man saved her from being raped and beaten up by these two savages and for that she was indeed really grateful.

"It's Nanami."

* * *

"Kuchiki-_Taicho_, what are you doing with all these men?" Renji tried to count the people gathered in the room. He estimated that they were at least 50 persons. There must be something going on with Kuchiki-_Taicho_ to send that much division people on a mission.

"We will catch a thief." He replied without sparing Renji a single glance.

Renji's confusion was painted all over his face. "A thief? You mean that thief Hitsugaya-_Taicho_ and Soi Fon-_Taicho_ are already searching for?"

"Exactly." His eyes never left the reports in front of him. There were reports about the last incidents in the upper districts. After his anger had lessened last night he had thought about the thief and his course of action. He had remembered the reports Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ had handed them over during one of the captain meetings. At the moment, Soi Fon and Hitsugaya were searching for that "group" of thieves.

_There is only one thief__. _He thought about Hitsugayas words during the meeting.

"_**What if it isn't a group but a single person?" Hitsugaya suggested.**_

Hitsugaya-Taicho was right from the very beginning and the robbery of the _Ring of Pride_ only supported that thesis. There was only one person - one skilled person that stole from the upper districts and now had access to Seireitei.

In the early morning hours he had written a report to Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ about the night's incidents. Even if it cost him a lot of his pride to accept his defeat against a mere thief Yamamoto had to know that a shinigami was stealing artifacts within Seireitei. In fact, he hoped that it was a shinigami but he wasn't sure about that. Someone who could completely vanish might be able to sneak in at every time without setting off the alarm.

If it was true that someone from the outside could sneak into Seireitei then this was a great lack of security. Maybe Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ would call it a state of emergency. It never happened before that someone from Rukongai could sneak into Seireitei. _And stole a very rare artifact in front of my eyes, _he thought angrily. He knew that a part of his enthusiasm was because of his wounded pride.

He handed a piece of paper over to Renji. "Abarai-_fukutaicho_, this is the list with the charities that were supported with a fixed amount of money during the last months."

"Gather the new reports from Hitsugaya-_Taicho_."

"So we are in for a thief-hunt?" Renji inquired. Maybe such a hunt would distract him from the whole Rukia thing. It was something that pulled on his nerves and it was hard for him to see his childhood friend in such a situation. He cursed this orange haired boy for what he had done.

"Hn." Was the response he got from the stoic male. Renji turned towards the door and left the office.

Byakuya placed a hand over his face. _I will get it back Hisana._

* * *


	7. Chapter 7: Occurrences

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

_A/N:_ Finally a new chapter is up :). As always I hope you enjoy it. Great thanks to my reviewers (**SweetYuya**, **invisible-gurl**, **The Bird of Hermes**). I know that chapter is a little bit slow, but its rather important for the story plot :D

* * *

**Chapter Seven: ****Occurrences**

The night of the same day, Nanami went out to find Keisuke. There were some spots where she suspected him to be. One was a brothel in the lower districts; another one was a bar not that far away from the 62nd district. He had lost a lot of money the last weeks and after his downswings he had drowned his sorrows in the arms of a whore. Nanami winced at the thought. That man was just too disgusting. He nearly never combed his greasy hair and he constantly smelled like alcohol and tobacco. After buying herself a new cloak she had left to seek him out.

As expected, she found him near the brothel smoking. She hadn't contacted him during the last two months because of her preparations for the Seireitei sneak-in. Their meetings were all business and nothing else. She didn't want to interact with that man more than necessary. She stepped closer towards the man leaning on the wall of the brothel and let go of her camouflage. Her new dark blue cloak was a little less wide than her previous one and gently hugged her slender figure. Nanami had to admit that she felt more comfortable with the one the Kuchiki shredded into pieces.

Keisuke turned his head towards the person in front of him. "I just thought they got you." As usual he got no response from the woman.

"Ah Azumi, that is a bad habit of yours. I want to hear your lovely voice." He was mocking her and he knew it, but Nanami wasn't one to let be provoked that easily.

Keisuke let out a exasperated sign. "Ok did you get the rings?"

Nanami threw the leather bag towards Keisuke and he caught it effortlessly. He could feel the outlines of a ring in the small bag, but it was only one ring. Curiously, he looked at the cloaked figure.

"And the second one?" His hand plugged the bag into the insides of his jacket. With a shake of the head Nanami signalized him that she didn't have a clue were the second one was.

"I see. You know there are some artefact freaks out there who would kill to grab one or two of the artefacts owned by the Four Great Noble families. You were able to steal this one; you are able to steal another one."

Nanami's posture stiffened. The mention of the Four Great Noble Houses reminded her of the incident the day before. She shook her head again. Only thinking about the Kuchiki-heir made her blood run cold and sent shivers down her spine. His murderous intent and anger contorted face was a constant reminder for her to never come close to him again. She was afraid of that man. In her mind she remembered the words he told her yesterday.

_**His voice was completely detached of any emotion**__**s. "You will not get out of this alive."**_

She had no doubt that he would come after her and hunt her down if he got a single hint about her whereabouts or her identity.

"Ok, I got it. Then only this job, but we need the second one, too. I'll try to get some money out of _Tsubasa._" He pushed himself off the wall and eyed the young woman in front of him. She wore a new cloak that showed her slender figure rather nicely he noticed. In his thoughts he already shredded that damn cloak to see the woman beneath. However nothing of that showed on his stubbly face.

He turned around and walked away through the dirty backyard of the brothel. Some servants were running errands in the neighbourhood. It was time for some action, he decided and headed towards the small inn. Keisuke didn't have to look back to know that Azumi was already gone.

* * *

His shift was over and he lazily stretched his tense muscles. A yawn escaped him. _Paperwork is just too tedious. I wonder where Tousen-Taicho went. _It was abusy day for Hisagi Shuuhei. First, he had to rescue a young shinigami from some scumbags, then he had to punish those two scumbags and last but not least his captain simply disappeared leaving all the paperwork for him. Usually, Tousen-_Taicho _was a really dutiful man, but the last two weeks he slacked off.

Nevertheless, Hisagi didn't want to go home just yet. He instantly headed towards the fourth division to find a certain woman. He unconsciously smiled at the thought of her. At first he only wanted to rescue her from the two other shinigami, but there was something about her that drew him to her like a moth to the fire. He enjoyed the trip to the 4th division, holding her close to him and revelling in her scent. In her deep brown eyes he could lose himself. He hoped to get some information about her. Maybe Isane knew something about her and gave him her records, if he was lucky.

Only two minutes later he arrived at his destination. Compared to the other divisions it was quite harmonic in the 4th . In Hisagi's opinion it was because of their nice and kind captain. Unohana-_Taicho _was the top healer of Seireitei and she certainly knew how to lead a division. Many members of the other divisions chastised the 4th because they thought they were useless and weak in battle. They didn't realize what important a healing squad in battle could be. _And Seireitei would be burned down to the ground by now._

In the hallway of the 4th he bumped into another fukutaicho. "Oh god, I am really sorry. I was lost in thoughts, Isane-_san_."

"You are apologizing too much, Hisagi-_san_." She greeted him with a smirk and got up from the ground.

"Ah, I am lucky, too because you're the one I am searching for." He said while helping Isane to get up and soothe the edges of her hakama.

"Oh and what brings you here? I hope you don't want to drag me to one of that drinking-nights you're having with Matsumoto-_san_ and Kira-_san_." She mocked him, knowing that he went overboard the last time he had a drinking contest with Matsumoto. He had to take the day off because of his hangover and he was sure that he was drunk the next day, too.

"No, no, it's something else. I'm searching for a person in your division." He gestured towards the captain's office as an indication that he wanted to talk to her in private. Isane got the meaning and led the way. Inside, she noticed that something or rather someone was occupying his mind. She sat down on the cushion and told him to do the same.

"So, what's her name?" She asked him straight out.

Glad that she took the initiative, he answered truthfully. "Her name is Nanami and she is an unseated member in your division. She has long brown hair that is held together in a loose ponytail. She is as tall as you I assume and slender in appearance. I haven't got her surname, but maybe you know her or can give me her record."

"Never heard of someone with that name in the division. She must be a newer recruit. Wait a moment, I will take a look in the files."

Hisagi was a well respected fukutaicho. He mastered his shikai when he still was in the academy and learned at a young age to protect others and defend himself. He was above average in the four basic skills that marked a shinigami, but there were some things he couldn't stand and one of those things was waiting. He walked up and down the office until Isane was gone. The time flew by and he groaned in annoyance. The moment Isane talked about was stretching into hours and it was well into the night when she returned empty-handed.

"Hey Hisagi. I'm really sorry, but there is only one recruit with this name and that woman doesn't match your description in the least."

Instinctively, Hisagi knew that it wouldn't be that simple to find the young woman from the morning. "It's ok, maybe she told me a wrong name or so." Disappointment was leaking out of his words and made them hollow. It wasn't ok that she told him the wrong name; he was a fukutaicho after all. But at the moment it didn't matter that much to him. The circumstances of their first meeting weren't that nice and maybe she was just afraid.

"Is it ok, if I come back tomorrow and look for her myself? She has to be a member of your division because she wore the 4th emblem on her shihakusho. Maybe I can find her that way."

"You're welcome. It's always nice to see you, Hisagi-san."

* * *

"Ah Tousen-_san_. Haven't seen you for quite some time." The fox like grin of Ichimaru Gin met the 9th division captain. Tousen only greeted him with a nod of his head.

"We are complete." Aizen stepped out of the shadows and gestured for his two fellow captains to follow him into the Central 46 Chambers building. The smell of dried blood filled their nostrils.

"Aizen-_sama,_ what are you intending to do with Urahara? He will send someone to return the Hogyoko. This question was burning in the head of Tousen Kaname all the time after he had read the reports from the Kuchiki-_taicho_. Kuchiki Rukia currently was arrested in one of the barracks, but he also knew about the orange haired boy and the quincy who tried to protect her.

A wicked smile appeared on his face and he took his time with his answer. "Let them come to her rescue."

Ichimaru took some steps towards the center of the room and eyed his companions. "You are really enjoying this, Aizen-_sama_." It was more like a whisper in the dark halls of the Central 46 Chambers than an accusation. However, he never got a reply to his statement. They looked at each other for a moment and even Tousen who couldn't see the both of them could feel the tension, the uncalled challenge between the two of them.

There were much more important things on their hands than a battle for supremacy, he decided. "And what are we doing when they succeeded in rescuing her from the execution?"

Slowly, Aizen turned his head towards the third person in the large room. "You don't have to worry about this, Tousen-_san_."

* * *

The night was a mild one despite the time of the year. Easily, Nanami could sneak into Seireitei again even after the incident the last day. She was relieved that the Library within Seireitei was far, far away from the Kuchiki-estate. She found her way through the maze fairly well. Keisuke had reminded her of a fact she had pushed away. It was right that she needed the second ring, too and she had no clue who owned this ring.

Getting into the Library proved to be as easy as always. She found her way through the immense number of bookshelves and tried to find some books that would help her to determine the whereabouts of the lost ring. For Nanami this was getting more and more a lost case. Many artefacts vanished during the time; maybe some were also stolen or destroyed. In the Seireitei Library she found an index about artefacts containing their origins and history. Many of them were directly connected to the Four Noble Familys and their ancestors. This index was up-to-date and items not listed there or listed with an unknown location where hard to find. _Maybe it doesn't even exist anymore. _

The hours passed without clues about the _Ring of Humbleness. _Even in the secret archives she found no evidence that the ring still existed. It annoyed her to no end that she was utterly clueless. She never had been good in admitting defeat; any kind of defeat. All traces vanished around 350 years ago. There was a great revolution at the time the ring disappeared. Apparently, a shinigami ran amok and killed some fellow captains, vice captains and round about 30 other shinigami during one night. After this he fled and was never seen again. _Bet he has got that damn ring. _Her face turned grim because this incident reminded her of the massacre in the Central 46 Chambers.

The noise of an opening door nearly made Nanami jump. _Who visits a Library in the middle of the night? _ Soft foot steps came closer to her kneeling position on the floor. She tried to feel his reiatsu signature and found it less familiar. Her curiosity was satisfied as the door revealed the tall figure of Aizen Sosuke, captain of the 5th division. _What is he doing here?_ He turned towards the same book section where she was currently sitting. Nanami narrowed her eyes and wondered what that man was searching for especially in this section of the Library. She was quite certain that this captain was sneaking around too to get some information. These parts of the Library were only accessible with permission from Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ and even then one had to protocol their visits and the documents one read. It was common procedure and there were no exceptions even for captains.

His intrusion wasn't the only thing Nanami was curious about. There were many sections in these secret parts of the Library and in this section you could only read about items and artefacts that were somehow important to Soul Society or Seireitei. Despite her own doubts she got up from the ground and followed him. His steps were firm and his posture confident. He was a man that knew what he wanted and his arrogant told her, that he usually got it. She had observed Aizen-_taicho _sometimes during the past three months and never before was the look in his eyes that cold and calculating. The smile he usually wore was gone and replaced by a thin line. In the gloominess of the room he looked more like a predator than the kind captain from the 5th.

He hoisted the lamp in his hand so he could read the book titles. After some minutes he apparently found the records he needed for his investigations. She observed him all the time. Sometimes it was strange which masks people wore. Everybody only saw the kind captain but never this cold one. It was the same with Kuchiki-_taicho. _Everybody saw the cold, detached, law abiding captain but not the tenderness she could see the first time they met in the garden.

Early morning birds disturbed the silence of the room and Aizen raised to leave the room undetected. Nanami wondered how he got here in the first place. There were guards in front of the building at all times. Lots of questions and no answers. Nanami reminded herself that she was here to do her job and not to spy on some captain. However, she was interested what books he read over there. Quickly, she closed the gap between her current position and the bookshelf Aizen occupied moments ago. The titles didn't tell her anything, but they all had one thing in common. They were all about the extractions of living or dead souls. Some were only records that described the process, others explicitly referred to items needed to perform an extraction. _What did a captain want with something like that? _

She remembered the strange conversation she witnessed some days ago in the office of the 3th division between Aizen and Ichimaru and now Aizen illegally forced his way into the Library. Not to mention the massacre of the members of the Central 46. _Something is really wrong here. _Her curiosity would kill her someday. She already left a message for Hitsugaya-_Taicho _she tried to calm herself. For now it was time to leave. She would return in the late evening to continue her research. However even after her departure she still felt uncomfortable with her own decision. Something was wrong in Seireitei and she suspected that nobody knew a thing about it.

* * *

"I am so glad you are here, Keisuke-_kun_." _Tsubasa_ greeted his friend with a welcoming smile. Keisuke knew all the flaws of the rich people in the vicinity and also their likes and dislikes. _Tsubasa_ was a well known man in the underground, but only some hand selected persons were aware of the fact that he earned his money by selling drugs to minors. Most kids on the streets desperately tried to escape the harsh and unforgiving life in Rukongai. They were robbing to get the money for these drugs. _These kids will die soon regardless what they'll do, maybe it'll be the best way out for them to die in their own world._

He bowed in respect, knowing that Tsubasa liked that kind of behaviour. "Nice to meet you, Tsubasa-_sama._"

"Please, my dear friend. Sit down for a hot cup of my Indian green tea. It's delicious. You have to try it." Without waiting for a response he waved at the female servant next to him, silently ordering her to bring two cups of his favourite tea. Keisuke sat down on the opposite side. He wore his finest Yukata, his hair was combed and cleaned and he smelled like mint. In that milieu he had to look that way. He wasn't used to wear something that formal but he had to blend in. In fact, the connection he had with Tsubasa was important for him.

They sipped their tea in silence. A servant watched them all the time. The young woman waited patiently for the orders of her master and after they finished drinking their tea she cleared the table and left the two men alone.

"Please my dear friend. I hope that you bring me some good news. What progress did you make with the items I desire the most at the moment, Keisuke-_kun_?" He said with a sing sang voice. His emphasis of the end of the sentences, especially questions, could drive Keisuke mad sometimes. He picked the small leather bag out of the insides of his yukata and handed it over to Tsubasa. The rich man observed every movement while his eyes started to gleam in anticipation. He wanted this set of rings for a long time and he believed that they originally belonged to his family.

Greedily, he opened the bag and his eyes widened at the ring in front of him. It belonged to him now and only him. This was his treasure. The stone in the middle of the ring was glowing brightly. The ring was masterly carved and the inscription was so sweet. He had read about this ring set in the history books and was fascinated from the very beginning.

Keisuke watched the silly behaviour of the old man with mild amusement. That man made a spectacle out of every single artefact he brought here. The other man looked up from the ring in his hands. "You will get half of the payment now and the other half when you're delivering the second part. Deal?"

He nodded and Tsubasa called for a servant to bring in the appointed amount of money. Both of them didn't notice the brief look of the servant in the direction of the ring.

"Ok it's a deal. I think I will get the second ring soon." Keisuke said politely half expecting the older man to forget the second ring. He nearly rolled his eyes at this childish behaviour. _Old freak. _

The minutes passed and Keisuke grew more and more impatient. "Takes your servants really long to bring down a single envelope."

Tsubasa raised a brow and looked towards Keisuke. He completely lost track of time. "Oh, my dear friend. You are right." He ringed a bell near the table to call for said young woman. The door opened and revealed instead of the servant a full equipped squad of the Special Forces.

"Oh shit." Keisuke cursed himself for trusting an idiot like Tsubasa in security measures.

"You can say that aloud." The firm voice of Soi Fon-_Taicho_ cut through the air.

Now it was getting ugly for the both of them. That servant woman was the first thought that crossed his mind. "A captain? It is rather nice that you visit our tea ceremony."

"Tea ceremony? I think it looks like something else." _Was he mocking her? _

Soi Fon made her way towards them and grabbed the ring Tsubasa still held in his hand. "I believe this is an item you are not supposed to own."

"Give it back to me. It belongs to me. I have paid for it already." Tsubasa got up and tried to grab the ring from Soi Fon but was instantly held down by two shinigami from the Special Forces. He struggled against their firm grip but it was in vain.

"You bought it from someone who stole this ring." Soi Fon lectured the struggling man.

Keisuke observed the discussion between the captain and Tsubasa in silence. Maybe they would simply forget about him. Inwardly, he arranged a good excuse for this ring being his.

The cutting voice of the small female interrupted his train of thoughts. "I will only ask you this question one time. Depending on your answer we will decide what happened to you. Understand?"

Her face was as cold as ice and he had no doubt that this female was able to slice him on the spot if she was unsatisfied with his answers. He nodded in understanding and otherwise kept quiet.

"Where did you get this ring from?"

From the stern look in her eyes and lack of any kind of emotion he thought that it would be wise to tell her the truth. The Special Forces were well known in the underground for their knowledge and discretion. Nobody really knew who the spies of the Special Forces were and what exactly they wanted. He was sure that they already had a record about him.

"I will tell you the truth and everything you want to know if I have your word that I get out of this alive." He offered. It was his only chance to use his knowledge to keep himself from being executed on the spot or being sentenced to death by a court. He had committed many crimes and he knew that.

"I am not giving you anything. Maybe some days in prison under special supervision will loosen your tongue." A menacing glare supported the meaning of her words. He could assume what she meant with _special supervision._

"I didn't steal this ring. To be completely honest, a young woman did this. I assume that she sneaked in and out of Seireitei to gather intelligence. This ring is the first part of the set and she actually tries to get a hold of the second ring."

A laugh from the serious captain in front of him interrupted his speech. "You really want to tell me that someone is sneaking in and out of Seireitei without us realising it? You have to be kidding me. There are enough shinigami inside to stop a whole hollow army and you think they will not notice a simple thief?"

However Keisuke's stern look told Soi Fon that he was indeed serious about that. "The former owner of that ring was the House of Kuchiki. I think this name should ring a bell. The current head of the house is also a captain in Seireitei. You can ask him if you don't believe my information."

Soi Fon narrowed her eyes at his offending tone. "You're not allowed to talk to me in that tone. We'll take the both of you to Seireitei to check your story."

"But I haven't done anything wrong." Tsubasa whined, still struggling against the two men that held him down.

Soi Fon merely looked at this sissy and turned to leave without another word.

* * *

The captains and vice-captains gathered in the large room of the 1st division. Yamamoto-_Soutaicho_ had ordered the meeting. The small hell butterflies only told them that they had new clues in the robbery incidents. It would only take some more minutes until the last captains arrived in the office of the old man. Despite the occurrences of the last month and weeks his face looked calm, but his mind was troubled with the development of the last days. At first he didn't want to believe the words in Kuchiki-_Taicho_'s report and he realised just then that it had cost the noble captain a great amount of pride to write that report at all. Due to this report he had allowed Kuchiki-_Taicho_ to investigate the break-in-case as well.

Much to his dismay yesterdays events only confirmed his apprehension. Soi Fon captured the artefact dealer Keisuke and one of his customers called Tsubasa. Keisuke's story was nearly unbelievable but it would solve many obscurities. This was a serious problem not only for Soul Society but also for Seireitei.

The last captain arrived at the 1st division office and took his position in the line of captains. A knock of Yamamoto-_Soutaicho's_ cane signalized them to be quiet and listen what he had to tell them.

"Captains, today's meeting is about the development in the break-in case Soi Fon-_taicho_, Hitsugaya-_taicho_ and Kuchiki-_taicho_ are investigating at the moment." Despite the information he had to communicate to his captains his voice was calm, but neither did he lack confidence nor authority.

Hitsugaya raised a brow and turned his head to stare at Kuchiki-_taicho_. He hadn't been informed that he was investigating in that case as well, but for the time being he was quiet.

"Three days ago there was a robbery of an ancient ring that belonged to the Kuchiki family for millenniums. This ring was stolen from the Kuchiki estate without any hints where the thief went. It is the first robbery we have in Seireitei."

"Then you want to tell us that the thief is a shinigami?" Ukitake-taicho asked unbelievingly. It was hard for him to understand that someone could steal that easily from a man like Kuchiki Byakuya and it was even harder to believe that one of the shinigami dared to anger Kuchiki-_taicho_ that way.

"Yesterday we imprisoned two people who apparently knew what happened within Seireitei. One of them told us everything he knew about the robberies and the incident regarding the ring that belongs to the House of Kuchiki." Soi Fon continued instead of Yamamoto-_Soutaicho. _The old man calmly observed the conversations between his fellow captains and thought about their opinions.

"Soi Fon-_taicho_, please tell us what information you got from the prisoners." Ukitake-_taicho _inquired friendly while Hitsugaya simply looked pissed. He openly glared towards Soi Fon-_taicho _and he was certain that she hadn't informed him beforehand because she thought that he was still a little boy. He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"He told us about several artefacts he traded with during the past 6 months. Every single one of the artefacts he mentioned were on the missing lists we had created from the upper districts in Rukongai. He even told us about one we hadn't noticed until now and after further investigation the owners of this artefact could confirm that it was missing. So this proves that he at least didn't lie to us."

"What information do you get about the group of thieves?" Hitsugaya interjected.

Soi Fon turned towards the young captain. "It is not a group of thieves. It is only one thief."

"Told you so." The dark glare Soi Fon threw at him was satisfying. He hated it when nobody would listen to him because of his age.

"Keisuke said that he just sold the items to various dealers or collectors. The thief is a young woman who calls herself _Azumi._ He never saw her face nor had he heard her voice. They communicated through messages. He also mentioned that this woman was rather good in simply appearing out of nowhere without a noise. She had managed lots of robberies in the upper districts and now even in Seireitei."

Kuchiki Byakuya absorbed every single word from Soi Fon-taicho like a sponge. Inwardly, he knew at the mention of that thief that it was the same thief he had seen in his mansion the other day; the same thief that tricked him and had the nerve to steal the ring from the shrine in front of his eyes. He could feel his anger return from the mere thought of that woman. Every bit of information would help him to slowly reveal the identity of that thief and then he would personally execute her with his own hands. Nevertheless his inner turmoil went unnoticed by the arguing captains.

Ukitake's eyes went wide at the implications. "So you want to tell us that a ryoka can enter and leave Seireitei without our knowledge and permission at every given time and without sounding the alarm?"

"Yes." It was a short confirmation from Yamamoto-_Soutaicho _who interrupted the discussion of his fellow captains.

"At the moment this is a high priority mission for the three captains that are already investigating that case. You get every support we have from the Special Forces and your own divisions. I want your reports at every single new detail you can attain."

He received a nod from Kuchiki-_taicho_, Hitsugaya-_taicho_ and Soi Fon-_taicho_.

"The number of guards on every gate and border post will be increased. Everything suspicious about a person within and outside of Seireitei must be reported immediately. Dismissed." The knock of his cane marked the end of the meeting but even when the meeting ended half of the captains continued discussing about the turn of events.


	8. Chapter 8: The First Meeting

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: So, new Chapter is up. Thanks a lot to **Sweetyuya** and my boyfriend for beta-reading and editing this chapter and also thanks to my reviewers :D.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The First Meeting**

Sitting in a dark corner of the dismal cell, Keisuke folded his hands almost casually behind his head**. **He had landed himself in a dire situation and this time there was nobody else he could blame for it, except himself. He had trusted this bastard Tsubasa who slacked off in security measures and brought him into this mess. Closing his eyes he gave off the impression he was sleeping, but inwardly his mind raced, searching for a solution to the nasty predicament he was in.The earlier he got out of this cell the better. The steady drips of water, the dirt on the ground and the foul smell got on his nerves. They were an unwelcome reminder of his younger days, when he still was a poor beggar himself and had to sleep on the dirt covered streets.

A loud creak pulled him from his grim reminiscing, and his eyes opened to find a petite female entering. The _taicho_, Soi Fon if he remembered correctly, looked out of place in the dreary prison, but that did not seem to have any effect on her. The way she held herself, with chin slightly uplifted and shoulders back, radiated self confidence.

With firm steps she closed the gap between the door and Keisuke's cell. "What's your decision?"

Her sharp eyes were fixated on the form of Keisuke, who still sat in his corner. "I'll help you." Keisuke replied, returning the captain's stare boldly. Of course he would do anything to save his life, even if that meant he would spend his days in a dark prison cell. Maybe someday there would be an opportunity to flee, but for the time being, he would just cooperate.

"Have you came up with a plan?" Soi Fon's eyes never left him, catching every single movement.

"Of course. Azumi will contact me because of the money from the ring. That's your opportunity to strike." With a lazy stretch he stood up, idly dusting the dirt from his clothing before moving towards the bars that separated them.

"There will be several shinigami observing you all the time, every single minute of the day. Don't try anything or you're dead, I can promise you that." Both her serious expression and tone told him she meant every word. If given half the chance, his throat would be sliced in an instant.

However, his gaze never faltered and he returned her look evenly. "Don't forget your end of the deal, Soi Fon-_taicho_."

Soi fon hissed. _The nerve of that man_. Nevertheless, she unfastened the door lock and let Keisuke step out of the gloomy cell. She would endure the bastard for now, but the moment she had Azumi in her hands, he'd be back in the cell before he could blink. The man was nothing more than a tool, and besides, he was an enemy of Soul Society. A prison cell is where he belonged.

Once outside, Keisuke took a moment to bask in the sunlight that was once again warming his face. After all this years, months and weeks he was finally going to reveal the true identity of Azumi.

* * *

"I'm just so sick of traveling from district to district. It's troublesome." Rikichi whined, pausing to rest against the trunk of a nearby tree.

"My feet are killing me." In the past three days, he'd only managed a meager two hours of sleep. He might have been the 7th seat, but he wasn't used to this kind of work. They had been searching, interviewing both the visitors and employees of charity organizations for days. All that work, and still they remained in the dark on the mysterious supporter.

A sudden and unexpected slap across his shoulder startled him, causing him to lose his balance and crash to the ground with an audible thud. "That was completely unnecessary, Renji-_san_."

"You're getting too soft, Rikichi." He grinned at his best friend, offering him a hand to get up.

"You know we have to find something or Kuchiki-_taicho_ will skin us alive. Dunno why, but he is really mad about that thief." Renji pulled out the piece of paper and scratched out the charity they just visited and looked for a new one.

Rikichi tried to get a look at the paper Renji held. "So many left?" The sheer number made him sick all over again, prompting the exhausted boy to slide down the tree, resting amongst the roots on the ground. "I am so dead."

"Hey Rikichi, lets keep going." Renji yelled at his distraught companion. Kuchiki-_taicho_ had formed six units consisting of seated officers and non seated division members to effectively search for hints about that thief. Their only chances were the charities and they hoped that some of them had information about Azumi. Inwardly, Renji prayed to all existing gods, that someone knew something about her or his captain would drive him crazy or slice his throat.

"Renji-_san_, there's a hell butterfly, maybe we're off the hook?" Rikichi held out his index finger so that the butterfly could convey his message.

Grinning, Renji closed the gap between them, beating Rikichi to the small creature to retrieve the message himself. After hearing the message, however, his face fell. "Listen up everyone, our orders have changed. We're to meet up with Kuchiki-_taicho_ to investigate the last three charities together. Let's get a move on." The disappointed faces of his fellow members reflected his own thoughts. Working directly with their _taicho_ was tedious to begin with, but it was even worse when the man was angry.

* * *

"Hey Nanami! What are you doing there?" Yuudai queried, rushing over to his employee, taking in the mess scattered across the table.

"I am really sorry. I just tried a new recipe, but it doesn't work well it seems." Charred remnants of the plants, along with bits of broken glass were strewn haphazardly about.

"Oh Kami-_sama_, what the hell were you trying to create?" Grabbing one of the intact vials on the table, he held it up, inspecting the contents carefully. A fine green powder filled it almost to the brim, smelling strongly of citron with just a hint of something he couldn't place.

"The primary ingredients are typically used to flavor tea or soup, but in it's current form it serves as a sleep aid. At least it should be." Nanami replied, keeping her eyes locked on the vial still in Yuudai's hands.

Yuudai eyed the female doubtfully. "Does it actually work?"

"I hope so, I haven't tested it out yet." Already mulling over who would serve as a test subject, her eyes fell on Yuudai, and a smile formed on her face.

Recognizing the look for what it was, he held his arms up and immediately voiced his opinion. "Oh no, you don't. If you want a guinea pig, you'll have to look elsewhere. Test it on yourself if you have to, but not me. I still haven't forgotten what happened the last time I agreed to try one out. Never again!" Stubbornly shaking his head, the older man dug his heels in, refusing to take part in any of her little experiments. "Not even if hell froze over."

With a rueful sigh, Nanami's eyes flitted over the vial once more. "Okay, okay, I guess I'll test it myself. Mind if I leave early today?"

"Just get out of here." Yuudai replied with a dismissive wave; just glad his young apprentice wasn't going to try anything like last time.

Hurriedly gathering her things, Nanami left the small pharmacy, planning on stopping by at the orphanage before returning home. The small vial vanished in the sleeve of her yukata in one deft movement, and was shoved to the back of her mind just as quickly.

The path to the orphanage was a hectic one, with the streets packed full of shinigami as well as the normal residents. Nanami had anticipated that they would come after her, but that they would increase the security to such an extreme was unexpected. Taking care not to falter, she continued just as she did every day. The fact that none of them knew her real name or face served as a safety blanket of sorts. There was no way in hell that they had a real clue about her. _And I intend to keep it that way..._

The two siblings, Tomoko and Isamu, nearly went overboard when they saw Nanami's unexpected arrival. It was unusual for her to show up in the middle of the day. Squeezing her doll tightly, Tomoko was so excited to see Nanami, she nearly came to tears.

"Don't be so silly, Tomoko." Isamu scolded his younger sister crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You just saw her two days ago, get it together." Taking a step closer to Nanami, he greeted her with a nod of his head. Sniffling at her brother, Tomoko ran forward, throwing her arms around Nanami in a fierce hug.

"You are mean, Isamu-_chan_. You are always so mean."

"Stop it, both of you. I don't have much time." Nanami chided, grabbing Isamu's arm and leading them both inside the building. The two children could be so difficult at times. One day, that haughty attitude of Isamu's was going to get him into trouble.

"Let go of me, I am old enough to walk alone." Isamu protested, trying to loosen Nanami's grip, yet failing miserably.

Once inside, Nanami let go of his arm. "Tomoko-_chan_, could you give me a few minutes with Isamu-_chan_?" Holding her doll close, she frowned, not wanting to leave, but going all the same. Once the door closed behind the little girl, she turned to the brooding young Isamu. He was angry with her, but why, she did not know.

"So young man as I told you I don't have much time. I just want to tell you to be careful and look after Tomoko. There have been a lot of shinigami on the streets the past few days. If you run into any, don't provoke them, okay? You'll get into a lot of trouble if you attack them, or do anything that might draw their attention." The anger faded from the young boy's face, replaced with an uncharacteristic expression of complete seriousness.

"I never do such stupid things!" He proclaimed confidently.

Smiling, Nanami ruffled his hair. "I know Isamu, I just don't want anything to happen to you or Tomoko. Just be nice to the shinigami, okay? I know you don't like them, but do it for me, alright?"

"You don't have to worry all the time; I may be young, but I'm not dumb. So long as they don't hurt Moko-_chan_. If they even try something, I'll fight them to the death!" To emphasize his words, he whirled around, planning on stalking out of the room.

Catching his arm before he'd gone two steps, Nanami pulled him back to her and hugged him tightly. "Be careful. Most of them won't hesitate to kill you, and there are a lot of them wandering the streets right now. Just stay inside and keep Tomoko-_chan_ safe, okay?"

Even if her voice was firm, her eyes begged him to be cautious and to take care of his younger sibling. "I told you, you don't have to worry so much. I am not a little kid anymore." This time his voice was soft and he knew that Nanami only wanted to protect Tomoko and him.

For a while, neither of them moved until a knock interrupted the peaceful silence in the room and the door was pushed open. Tomoko had grown tired waiting for them, and decided it had been long enough.

"I can fly!" Tomoko said, leaping into the air and flinging her arms around Nanami and Isamu. With a loud thud, the three of them landed on the floor, giggling.

"Tomoko-_chan_, what are you trying to do? Strangle her?!" Isamu said, pushing himself up from the ground and pointing an accusatory finger at his sister. Try as he might, he couldn't entirely erase the mirth from his voice.

Tomoko stuck out her tongue. "You're just jealous that our teacher thought I'm a better writer than you."

"Liar! I can write better than you and I'm even better in math!" He proclaimed with a definite 'Hn' , crossing his arms over his chest.

The evening went on in that manner, with the two playfully quarrelling with one another. Despite their banter, Nanami knew they both loved and cared deeply for one another. Supper was filled with happy chatter and lots of laughter. At times like this, Nanami was thankful that she saved Isamu years ago and found Tomoko. They all were like a little family with their good and bad sides. After the death of her own brother, Nanami hadn't thought that she would find something like that again.

* * *

Keisuke had told the shinigami from the 2nd division they should mask their reiatsu and come in regular clothing, but nobody would listen to him. Even with his under developed skills in sensing reiatsu he could figure out the two shinigami watching him in an instant. There was little doubt Azumi would spot them right away. _Those idiots._ They would never get a hold of Azumi that way. The woman was far too skilled to be spotted and too intelligent to contact him with shinigami so obviously watching him.

He stopped in the middle of the dirt covered road and pulled out a cigarette. He was fuming inwardly because of those idiots from the Special Forces. The deal with Soi Fon contained the capture of Azumi and he was the one who had to detain her or the higher ups of Seireitei would sentence him to death. There was no way out of that mess except the capture of Azumi.

For all of his years of experience and vast knowledge of the underground in Soul Soceity, he knew they would capture and kill him, should he be foolish enough to flee. The Special Force team may have been idiots, but they held a multitude of knowledge on every last inhabitant of Soul Society. There was that and his new _special_ friend, Soi Fon-_taicho_. He truly despised the overly confident woman. In his opinion no woman should get a position like that. Unfortunately for him and much to his dismay, she could have his head removed with just a snap of her fingers.

He pondered about many plans to get a hold of Azumi without those bastards from the 2nd division around. The fools had little to no skill in concealing their presence, or blending into the masses. _Azumi wouldn't show up with those people around. Knowing her, she probably had figured out something was up. This is bad._

Keisuke would never find out how close to the truth his thoughts were. Nanami instinctively knew that something was wrong when she closed the gap between her comfortable position on the rooftop and his standing form on the road. Two shadows caught her immediately, caution warning her to check them out. _Shinigami. _It dawned on her that they not only were watching Keisuke but observing the surroundings as well.

The shinigami on the street and the observation of Keisuke made Nanami uncomfortable. They must be good if they discovered her connection to Keisuke. Her mind was running through the reasons why they picked up on it so quickly. _Had they apprehended Keisuke already? No, he wouldn't work with the shinigami...would he? _Nanami wasn't sure what to think about this turn of events. She would keep her distance to Keisuke for the moment and just follow him around for the next days. Maybe it was just a coincidence that the two shinigami were around, but she doubted that. She never believed in coincidences.

She watched the two shinigami and Keisuke for a little before retreating for the night. It was already half past midnight and she needed sleep. Recalling the small vial filled with green powder, she decided to give it a try. If it worked, then perhaps she would finally get a night of peaceful, undisturbed rest.

* * *

Raising his arms in an exhausted stretch, Renji opened his mouth wide and yawned. They were finally at the last charity on the list for the day. The presence of his captain killed the laid back atmosphere in his unit the very moment he arrived in the designated area. Rikichi visibly tensed beside him, his eyes studying the ground at his feet with interest. The Kuchiki heir was uncomfortable to be around normally, and with his unusual, yet obvious anger at the thief made it ten times worse.

They were currently located in the 62nd District of Rukongai. Renji had never visited this one before, but it seemed alright. Of course, he'd grown up in Inuzuri, the 78th District. Life there had been much harsher than this and he was grateful he'd left. In the struggle to survive, he'd lost three close friends to the cruel streets. All that remained of his childhood friends was Rukia. The thought of Rukia made him wince, a painful reminder of her current situation. It also made his blood boil, his anger directed at the orange haired brat that got her in trouble to begin with. Because of him, he was going to lose another dear friend.

He forced these thoughts away and concentrated at the situation at hand. They were hunting a thief and he needed some clues to satisfy his superior or he would be in real trouble, too. The orphanage was a large building with lots of places for the children to play games, to laugh and fool around. In his own way he sympathized with the thief. His younger self would have been glad to have a place like that. Of course, he couldn't forget that same woman managed to fool the entire Seireitei. Renji's head was beginning to hurt from all the thinking. Sighing, he decided to put his thoughts to the side to focus on what he'd been sent to do. As if on cue, his captain spoke to him in that typical, apathetic tone.

"Abarai-_fukutaicho_, see to the residents of the orphanage while I speak to the principal. I will expect your report within half an hour." Renji bowed in front of his superior and made his way towards the sleeping quarters that were close to the office.

The first two rooms he came across were empty, leaving him to wonder where all the children had gone. An inspection of the third room proved to be much the same. He was just about to leave, when he heard a slight rustle of fabric. Turning, he spotted a pile of clothes on the floor and grinned. Walking over to it, he quickly pushed aside the clothing, pulling a small child out from under them. The young girl he found, immediately began screaming, wildly struggling against his grip.

"Calm down, little one. I am not going to hurt you, okay?" He said in an attempt to pacify the young raven haired girl. His words, along with the soothing tone of his voice brought her struggles to a halt with the little girl bravely looking him in the eye. Tomoko was afraid of him, but she remembered Nanami's words and decided to obey him. "Please let me down" She tried to convince him.

Suddenly, Renji was struck in the head by a small stone. "Get your filthy hands off my sister you perverted bastard!" Renji turned just in time to avoid another stone thrown his way, quick instincts allowing him to dodge the flying object.

When he still did not release his hold over the girl, the black haired boy screamed again, hurling yet another stone his way. "Let go of my sister, you scum!"

Renji put the small girl down. "You little shit head." He used flash step to appear behind the child in an instant, snatching him up effortlessly. The stone in his hand fell to the ground with a soft thud and the child screamed in agony as his arm was twisted behind his back.

Tomoko visibly paled at the shinigami's actions and fear for her brother filled her. "No Mr. Shinigami. It's a mistake." She ran towards Renji and tried to loosen his grip on his brother's arm but failed.

"Get lost." Renji grabbed the arm from the young girl and shoved her away from the both of them. "Go and play with – ahhhhh…"

Twisting, Isamu managed to turn enough to land a well placed blow to the shinigami's groin. When Renji's grip loosened, Isamu reached for Tomoko's arm and they both sprinted away through the hallways of the orphanage trying to put as much distance between themselves and the shinigami as possible.

"Isamu-_ni, _that was so stupid. You promised Nanami not to anger the shinigami." Tomoko scolded her brother during their run.

"You eavesdropped!"

"Of course I did and Nanami knew it." Tomoko panted from the exhaustion. She had never been a good runner.

"Isamu-_ni, _I can't run that much. I need a break." She said between heavy breathes.

Isamu stopped and looked around if anybody followed them. "I think we can stop for a minute or so. That shinigami was such a pain in the ass."

"Is that so?" Shocked, the children turned their heads, looking back to discover the furious Abarai Renji staring down at them. Snatching them both by the collar, he hoisted them into the air, bringing them to eye level. While Tomoko hung limply, Isamu flailed about wildly, his arms and legs coming up too short to land a hit on the older man.

"You kids are in serious trouble, you got that? I might let you slide if you answer some questions though. Can you behave long enough to do that?" Renji impatiently waited for a response from the bothersome siblings. The boy, Isamu was his name he thought, reminded him much of his younger self. Maybe that was the only reason he didn't beat the hell out of the little brat.

Tomoko hesitantly nodded and eyed her brother. "I am not going to tell you shit!" Came his stubborn response. The boy still thrashed about, vainly trying to free himself.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Renji said, setting the girl down to pin the little boy against a nearby wall.

"Listen, I am not as patient as other shinigami, but I'm not that kind who hurts little kids. Now would you please hold still? I don't want to, but I will have you locked up if you don't stop." Renji was quickly losing his patience with the disobedient orphan. He would learn to listen to shinigami one way or the other and he would get what he wanted to know. Isamu stopped and shot Renji a menacing glare. A minute passed and both of them just stared at each other. Isamu was the first to break the eye contact and nodded.

"About damn time kid. Now that you're done acting like an idiot, I need you to tell me a few things. Like, other than employees, what kind of people do you see coming and going from the orphanage?"

"I'm no idiot, you perverted bastard." Isamu retorted angrily. The stubborn child wasn't about to let the older man get away with calling him an idiot.

Renji let out an exasperated sigh. The boy was much too proud for his own good. "Yeah, yeah. For gods sake, just tell me what I want to know."

Tomoko was the first one to speak up, timidly answering Renji's question. "There are lots of people that come and go. Our teachers, friends and sometimes relatives. Our teacher comes by twice a week." The young girl thought about other persons that would come here, but except the ones he told the shinigami nobody else visited the orphanage voluntarily.

"Do you know any of them personally?" Renji was glad that at least the girl was cooperative. Her brother glared at him sullenly, the look in his eyes made Renji suspect the boy would like nothing better than to skin him alive

Before the little girl could respond, a powerful reiatsu approached, one Renji recognized immediately. He didn't need to turn around to know that it was Kuchiki Byakuya. Somehow the small girl noticed the intimidating aura that surrounded Kuchiki-_taicho_ and backed away in fear. Isamu's senses went on full alert and he focused his eyes on the captain standing in the doorway.

"Abarai-_fukutaicho_, I gave you half an hour to investigate, not to spend it playing hide and seek with two children." Renji glared at the siblings and blamed them for the reprimand of his superior.

"These two live here, and they know a lot of the people that come and go. We may be able to get some valuable information from them."

Kuchiki Byakuya nodded towards his fukutaicho. "Take them to the 6th division."

"No!" Isamu cried out. He couldn't allow them to be taken to Seireitei. Who knew what would happen to them there. Desperation fuelled him, and the young boy swung his fist, punching Renji in the stomach followed by a well aimed kick to his knee. It wasn't much, but it was enough to cause the shinigami to stumble.

"You little shit." He grabbed Isamu by the collar and threw him towards the opposite wall.

To his surprise, Isamu twisted mid air, his feet touching the wall rather than his head. Pushing off, the young boy landed gracefully on the floor, already yelling at his sister. "Run Tomoko" He shouted, shooting her an angry glare to hasten her steps. Tomoko hesitated for a moment before taking her brothers advice.

Running as fast as she could, Tomoko left the orphanage behind, streets and buildings passing by in what felt like a blur. By the time she reached the small hut at the edge of the forest, her breaths were coming in frantic gasps. Tears stained her face, and her legs and arms were scratched from some of the bushes she'd gone through, but she was here. She could only pray that Nanami would actually be at home.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, her fists pounded against the door. The more time passed, the more frantic she became. Her knocks began to weaken, and her sobbing grew more and more intense. An overwhelming fear gripped her heart; she just couldn't lose her brother.

* * *

Nanami slept well into the day, waking only to the sounds of loud knocking and the terrified cries of a young girl, calling her name over and over. Sleepily, Nanami got up struggling to shake the dizziness away. _Hell, it's in the middle of the day. This stuff works far too well._ The bright sun shone through the window, reminding her that she was late for work. Yuudai would be absolutely furious with her. She shifted uncomfortably at the mere thought of facing his wrath.

"Nami! I need you!" The panicked voice called again from the other side of her front door. After a moment Nanami realised that it was Tomoko-_chan_ who tried to wake her. She rushed to the door, clad in only her sleeping yukata.

"Nami, you have to come quick! Isamu-_chan_ is in trouble, they're going to take him away! Hurry, you have to help him!" The words spilled from the sobbing girl in a rush, tears pouring down her face in a steady stream. Exhaustion and fear shook her body, making her already choked voice tremble.

"He was just trying to protect me" she wailed, "It's all my fault they caught him, it's all my fault!" Tomoko cried louder with every passing second.

Squatting down, Nanami lowered herself, reaching out and pulling the small girl into her arms. She wasn't quite sure what the young girl was trying to tell her, but Isamu was in trouble. That much was certain.

"Shh. Calm down a little bit, Tomoko-_chan_. Shh.." Moving her hand in circles on the girls back, Nanami comforted the frightened child. After a few minutes, Tomoko's sobbing ceased and she visibly calmed down.

"Good girl, now start from the beginning. What happened?" Nanami said, hugging Tomoko a little bit tighter as to assure her that she was there to help her. It did the trick, and once more the little girls words came out in a jumbled rush.

"At first the one man only asked some questions, but then he demanded things and wanted to arrest us and bring us to Seireitei and Isamu went over board and fought the shinigami -"

"He fought them?" Nanami said, cutting the little girl off, panic rising in her voice. _Shinigami again_. In an instant Nanami picked Tomoko up and rushed towards the orphanage. She had to hurry or Isamu would get himself into real trouble this time. He hated shinigami and Nanami knew of that fact, but she never thought that he would openly anger one of them.

Her small hut lay just outside of the 62nd district, covered by a mass of trees and bushes. She liked it because of the fresh and pure morning air, as well as the proximity to the forest. At this moment, she cursed herself for living so far from the orphanage, which was located towards the middle of the District. The distance was only a matter of minutes, but right now every second counted. Her past experiences in Seireitei didn't help calm her nerves either. Many shinigami would have no qualms killing a little kid that got in the way or raised a fuss. The sinking feeling in her stomach told her that she had to hurry.

_Only two more streets to cross. I can already see the orphanage. _Her mind went berserk with every single possible outcome and she prayed that she would be in time. Running as fast as her legs would allow, she sped across the last street, entering the orphanage at last.

"Let go of me."

Nanami sighed in relief when she heard Isamu's demanding voice. Hearing his voice meant he was still alive. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath before she knocked at the door and entered. Nanami didn't know what she expected, but of all people, she hadn't expected for him to be here.


	9. Chapter 9: Arrested

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: New chapter is up. Thanks a lot to **SweetYuya** and my boyfriend for beta-reading and editing this chapter and also thanks to **Mishi Marie**, **invisible-gurl**, **pyrosylver, Xx-Alone-In-The-Rain-xX** and **SweetYuya** for reviewing. Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Arrested**

Internally, Nanami braced herself for the worst possible outcome, but nothing could have prepared her for the fear inducing sight that offered itself to her now. The red-haired shinigami pressed the headstrong boy against the wall. His sword was unsheathed and the cold metal was resting against Isamu's throat. The light reflected itself on the sharp blade furthering Nanami's fear. If the vice captain exerted a little more pressure, he would harm the boy seriously.

The shock Nanami felt with this thought was clearly written on her face. Aghast, she stared at the redhead, dumbstruck. Had his captain not stood in the room with them, she'd have given him a piece of her mind. Threatening an innocent child in such a way was inexcusable. Even if Isamu was a stubborn boy, he certainly wouldn't start quarrel with an adult without a reason.

Nanami's eyes wandered from the redhead to the imposing figure of Kuchiki Byakuya. Sweat bubbled down her forehead. In her thoughts she blamed the warm weather, but the shivering of her hands gave away that she really was afraid of the man. With the bright rays of the sun filtering in through a nearby window, she could clearly see his grey, grim eyes for the first time. No wonder that he was captain; one of his glares and a violent wave of his reiatsu would be enough to teach his enemies to fear him. At the moment his unyielding eyes scrutinised her from head to toe. His look was detached of any expression, but she could not shake the feeling that he looked at her with contempt.

Once the initial shock passed, and her mind returned from its frozen state, her thoughts cleared. Nanami hadn't expected him to be here. Quietly, she admonished herself. He couldn't know she was the thief. Presumably they only scanned every charity which she had donated within the last six months with money. His presence here only showed her that he wanted to see her brought to justice, or put to death, with his own eyes. Why else would someone of his rank voluntarily proceed in investigating the 62nd district of Rukongai? She had hoped that he would simply let the matter rest that she had stolen the ring but apparently, his pride wouldn't allow that. Seeking to calm herself, Nanami's shoulders tightened as she banished every little insecurity from her face.

"What could the boy have done to warrant you drawing your sword?" She addressed the red-haired shinigami and tried to dodge the steel look of his captain at the same time. While she made the effort to sound respectful, the fear filled expression on Isamu's face made it difficult. Nanami could feel Tomoko's small hand that grasped her yukata tightly as a sort of safety blanket. Anger bubbled just beneath the surface, and if not kept in check, it would soon become quite evident. If Byakuya Kuchiki hadn't also been in the room, she would have indeed reprimanded the shinigami, regardless of the consequences for herself. Now, however, Nanami suppressed such impulses and concentrated on bailing out Isamu.

Renji hadn't let the half-dressed woman who had entered the room out of his sight. Her yukata had slipped a little, exposing the skin around her collar. A few strands of her deep brown hair had freed themselves and now fell loosely into her face. The sharp, rapid intakes of air as well as her dishevelled appearance actually made her seem quite fierce, almost unrestrained. Even so, her aura radiated composure and outward calm. A wide grin tugged at the corners of Renji's lips, his thoughts were already occupied with other things.

"Should I start with the 'flinging rocks' part, or should I just go straight to the 'kicking me in the nuts' part?" He asked, voice dripping with sarcasm as he straightened. His grip on the boy tightened at his words, but he did at least pull the sword away from him.

Once the zanpaktou left his neck, Isamu came back to life, quickly rushing to justify his actions to Nanami.

"It's all his fault! He was going to hurt Moko-chan, I only wanted to protect her!" Even before the words were out of his mouth, he began flailing about again, struggling to break free of Renji's grasp.

With an irritated jerk, Renji flung the boy to the ground. The overworked shinigami had more than enough of his cheeky behaviour. He eyed the boy disapprovingly. "One day you're going to get in serious trouble if you keep acting this way towards shinigami."

"You bastard! You have-" Isamu didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Nanami had made her way towards the duo and in spite of her normal, gentle nature, finished Isamu's torrent of words with a slap in the face. The boy palmed his burning cheek and furiously stared at Nanami. Despite his untamed character, he seemed to understand the message Nanami wanted to deliver with her actions.

She had anticipated a tit-for-tat response from Isamu which was, luckily, missing. At least once in his life he seemed to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. She was almost sorry that she had slapped him. Isamu swallowed his sprouting fury and lowered the head to avoid Nanami's scolding look.

"I apologise for his manners. Apparently, he hasn't learned the right behaviour towards shinigami yet." Nanami bowed to further emphasise her excuse. She felt uncomfortable in her role as a peacemaker, but she would make every possible effort to protect Isamu from the shinigami, even if that meant that she had to swallow her own pride. The watchful eyes of Kuchiki Byakuya which didn't leave her unobserved for one second strengthened her indisposition tremendously. His cold, pejorative eyes sent a shiver down her spine. It unnerved her, feeling as though somehow, they seemed to read into her very soul.

Nanami nudged Isamu who was still lying on the ground with a foot into his side to signal him that he also should say something. With a sullen grunt he rose to his feet and lowered his head, following Nanami's example. "My apologies." This was the only concession he would make for these shinigami.

Renji scratched the back of his head, confused by the sudden change in the child's behaviour. It seemed to be connected, strangely enough, to the woman beside him. _Maybe she's related to him_. After a moment he shrugged, unwilling to waste any more time thinking about the unexpected shift. Instead, he tried to catch the look of his captain and wait for his orders.

If Byakuya had been surprised at the development of the events in front of him, his expression did not reflect it. Frigid and calculating he observed the bowed figures before him.

"Apology accepted." In saying so, he signalled to them that they could raise their heads.

His gaze fell once more on the woman who vehemently tried to avoid looking him in the eye studiously studying the ground with sudden interest.

"What is your name?" Nanami knew that he meant her. His condescending tone prompted her to return his haughty look with the same intensity.

"My name is Nanami." She answered him coldly without breaking the disagreeable eye contact. _What does he think who he is?_ She scolded herself that she asked herself such a silly question. He was Kuchiki Byakuya. Clan head. Captain of the 6th division. An aristocrat. And his pretentious gaze clearly told her that he didn't even consider her equal to the mud under his feet. If she hadn't reminded herself what a dangerous man he was, she would have already given him a piece of her mind. However, at the moment it was more important to keep Isamu and Tomoko away from both shinigami.

"These children here are Isamu and Tomoko. Both have lived here for two years." Nanami carried on without letting the captain of the 6th division out of her sight.

Renji could literally hear the tension in the air crackling. The irritable children, a half-dressed woman and the tenacious thief hunt caused his captain's mood to sink back to zero. These delays let them fall behind their real schedule and without tips he wasn't sure if he could endure Kuchiki-_taicho_ for the rest of the day. The young woman would hopefully shed a little light into the darkness, allowing them to continue with their inquiries.

After neither his captain nor the lady spoke another word, Renji tightened his shoulders and began hesitantly. "So … okay, could you tell us about the orphanage? More specifically, the people who come and go on a regular basis." He scrutinised the expression of his captain to find a confirmation or refusal in it. When he saw no visible expression or change there of, he looked to Nanami for an answer. It was mildly surprising to see the little ruffian standing meekly beside the woman, his little mouth tightly shut. He had at least expected annoyance, or perhaps an explanation from him.

"There aren't many employees to speak of. Only a private tutor, door keeper, and the director, Midori. Oh, there is a cook that lives here as well; she prepares food for the children, as well as purchasing general supplies. Other than that, there isn't anyone to speak of and visitors are rare." Nanami explained to both shinigami, looking Renji in the eye, grateful to see he was following her words carefully. The heavy scrutiny of his captain still weighed on her, making it all but impossible for her nerves to settle themselves.

Pleased that he finally found someone he could speak to normally, Renji continued his questioning. "Can you tell me, of all the regular visitors, how many are female? I'm gonna need names and addresses."

Nanami recognised the seriousness of his question immediately, but what shocked her to the bone was that they could already associate the thief with a woman. It had to be that way, because otherwise they wouldn't have come right out and asked, would they? It took her a moment, but she was finally able to control her own feelings, hiding those fear filled thoughts behind a stoic mask. She could only hope that the slight widening of her eyes had escaped the eyes of the Kuchiki heir, but somehow she knew it hadn't. _Keep cool_. _They have no clues apart from that. _Nanami admonished herself over and over again. It was impossible for them to know who the thief was, even if they had already discovered the gender. _Maybe Byakuya saw something when I stole the ring that prompts him to believe the thief is a woman. _Inwardly she shook her head, shoving such troublesome thoughts aside. _Impossible._

Nanami took her time before answering Renji's question and tried to sound as calm as possible. "I know the address of Midori-san and the cook. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue where any of the visitors live. It's none of my business." It was true, although Nanami had seen them before, she never spoke to any of them, and certainly would not have inquired as to where they lived. It was rare to see others in the orphanage anyway. Aside from her, few others paid the children any attention.

"Understandable. Can you go ahead and write down the addresses?" As he spoke, Renji stepped forward, passing her a slip of paper along with a pencil. Why he thought a simple resident of the Rukongai was able to read and write was beyond her, but she accepted them nevertheless, carefully writing down the street names.

"Add your address as well." Startled, Nanami looked up from the paper to stare directly into the cold and unyielding eyes of Kuchiki Byakuya.

"I don't have an address. I live in a small hut on the edge of the 62nd district. There are no street names anymore." While she answered honestly, she couldn't help but cringe at the thought of writing down another address. Her hands were already trembling slightly; her fear would have become painfully evident to them if she was forced to write another word. Again, she willed herself to calm, though it was becoming more and more difficult each time. Handing the paper to Renji, she reminded herself of what little evidence they had. _They have no clue, calm down and you'll be fine._

Quietly pocketing the paper, Renji examined the woman in front of him once more. Had circumstances been different, he would have asked her out to dinner. Of course, with his captain hovering nearby, there was no way that would happen. The older man simply wouldn't tolerate such behaviour. With a nod of his head, Renji bade her farewell. "Thanks for the help."

Renji might not have noticed the quivering of her hands, but it had not escaped the notice of the stolid captain. Byakuya had seen it and not just the barely quelled trembling, but the barely contained fury bubbling in her eyes as well, all of which belied her outward calm. _She fears Shinigami._ The thought rippled across his mind. _No, that's not quite right. She fears me._ The woman's behaviour towards his fukutaicho was reserved and deferential. When she looked to him, he saw only rage glittering in her eyes, with an outward display of humility. _Why do I care?_ Currently, she was only as suspicious as any other female connected to the charities.

For a few moments, he studied the young woman -Nanami- sceptically, before detaching his gaze and moving towards the door.

"We found something!" Rikichi announced, storming through the door at the very moment as Byakuya intended to leave the room. The young officer grew pale as he stared into the unemotional face of his commander and stuttered. "We...uh...found something...sir...something of interest in the...uh...cellar." He said, finishing with a gulp.

The young officer hastily lowered his head, unable to take the frigid glare of his superior a moment longer. Staring firmly at the ground, he patiently awaited an order.

"Continue." Byakuya commanded the 7th seat, unwavering eyes currently glued to the boy in front of him. This was most fortunate for Nanami, for if he had been looking at her, he would have instantly noticed the shock reflecting in her eyes. That and her paled face would have alerted him immediately.

"Yes sir! In the report you gave us, you mentioned a cape. We've located one in the cellar downstairs that fits your description very well." Without raising his head Rikichi informed his superior about the great news, grateful for the fact that they had found at least one clue. The last four days had barely helped them in their inquiries, but now, finally, they had a little bit of information their further investigations could be based on.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed menacingly. "Bring me this cloak." With a hasty bow, Rikichi fled the room, returning with amazing alacrity, bearing a small bundle of cloth in his arm.

Nanami had prayed the questioning was the worst she would be forced to endure and had been relieved when it reached its end. Now it became almost impossible to conceal the roiling emotions that curdled her stomach. It was her cape the young boy held. It was new, seeing as how Byakuya managed to shred the other so nicely, but it would still connect her to the crime, should they discover its owner. The mere sight of it stole her breath, and a solid lump of fear welled in her throat. _Keep cool. Calm down._ She admonished herself over and over again, but the wild pounding of her own heart was beginning to override her own thoughts. Once more, sweat beaded on her brow, her nerves rubbed completely raw.

Accepting the bundle proffered to him, Byakuya studied the cape extensively. It wasn't the cape Azumi had worn, but then, this one was obviously purchased recently. He may have been unable to see her, or feel her reiatsu at the time, but Senbonzakura had slashed her repeatedly, as evidenced by her blood. Aside from the cape, Rikichi produced a small, empty leather bag, tossing it into the air. It seemed likely that Azumi kept her ill gotten loot in the small satchel. The orphanage was one of the many 'sponsored' by the thief; the manager and the existence of a teacher, guard and cook had confirmed that. Without a doubt, Azumi was using this house as one of her hiding places.

Byakuya's thoughts circled around the three women he could directly associate with this house. The only question was whether Azumi was one of the three of them or not. As much as he hated to admit it, there was always the possibility that she crept in and out of the building without notice, completely unrecognized. It would be in her best interests to keep her distance from both visitors and staff, but then, it wasn't in her best interests to steal from a captain, a Kuchiki no less!

Thoughts still swirling in his mind, he turned to his fukutaicho. "Abarai-fukutaicho. Invite Midori-san and the chef to an interrogation within Seireitei." Expecting such a drastic response from the older man, Renji bowed and exited the room, heading straight to the office of the director.

Turning back towards Nanami, he studied her face extensively. Her wide, tawny eyes revealed a bounty of emotion, ranging from rage, to fear, and then to shock. Despite her handsome features successfully hiding these things, her eyes were like a doorway to her soul, revealing all she struggled to keep them concealed.

"Come along." Not a question, but a simple order.

_Who does this man think he is? _She thought for the second time. Obviously, he was used to ordering people around and he expected nothing but obedience. What afflicted her most, fuelling her rage, was the contempt and disdain in his voice. Fury encompassed her once more and the second time this day, she wished that she could simply give him a piece of her mind. If she hadn't known his position and the danger he posed, she would have already done so. Knowing just what he was capable of, she tolerated his behaviour, willing to obey him if it would keep Tomoko and Isamu safe. Setting aside the emotional chaos that reigned in her mind, Nanami swallowed her pride and anger, nodding in acquiescence.

"May I go back home to dress? This is most inappropriate to wear outside my own home." During the whole hectic rush, she had almost forgotten her half-dressed state. His derogative gaze made her aware of that fact almost painfully.

The request had brought it to his attention that indeed, she was barely dressed. Intuitively, his eyes scrutinised her once again until he met her gaze once more and with a curt nod of his head, granting her request.

"Very well." It was blatantly obvious the man was a noble, and one clearly used to getting his way. Nanami had not heard a single complete sentence pass those aristocratic lips of his. At least, not one that wasn't an order or demand.

"Isamu, Tomoko, stay here and please don't cause any more trouble, okay?" Both children had become astonishingly quiet after the initial hunt, especially after Isamu's short lived tirade. It seemed they finally understood the gravity of the situation. Tomoko's look was fearful and even Isamu who usually emitted self-assurance looked concerned.

Nanami smiled at both of them. "Don't look at me that way, nothing will happen to me." The smile had been genuine, despite the horrible circumstances. Even now, the Shinigami couldn't figure out who Azumi was. Nanami's self-confidence slowly came back, the longer she gazed at the children and then she embraced both warmly.

Byakuya cleared his throat to imply that he would like to continue as planned. As a result, Nanami disengaged herself from Tomoko and Isamu, leaving the orphanage and leading the way towards her tiny home. Mentally, she considered that he would want to search the small hut upon arrival. Precautionary as she was, he would find nothing to reveal her secret identity. If the man wasn't watching her as they walked, she would have smiled. To hide her thoughts, she banished away her emotions that had once again been placed firmly under her control.

The way back to the edge of the forest was spent in disagreeable silence, but neither Nanami nor Byakuya felt the urge to break the quiet. For her part, Nanami kept her eyes glued to the narrow path that wound its way through the forest. Meanwhile, her 'escort' considered her as he stalked alongside. She did not need to spare him a second glance to notice he was on full alert. After being thwarted by her once before, she could not blame him, even though he had no clue it was her that successfully eluded his grasp. The way he was holding himself indicated his senses were finely attuned, one hand resting on the hilt of his zanpaktou served to prove the point. Those piercing eyes of his seemed to take in everything at once, herself included. _Does he seriously think I will try to flee?_ Her expression darkened immensely at the thought. _Maybe I am not an aristocrat or a Shinigami, but I am not stupid._

After a painfully long and silent walk, the woods parted, revealing the tiny hut she called home. It was obvious that she had not lied concerning her lack of an official address. It was indeed lying on the outskirts of the forest, just barely inside the 62nd District. Despite the external impression, her home was comfortably equipped and well cared for. Consisting of a small sitting room, bedroom, bath and kitchen, it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a comfortable abode, but her favourite part had to be the location, being just inside the forest.

The rooms were all tiny, but for one person it was more than enough. The walls were decorated with a lot of paintings from children, some of them were framed, others were scattered on the table in the sitting area. Beside the painting work, Byakuya's gaze fell upon an old book shelf. As far as he could recognise the titles, the books shelf contained records about medicine and botany. Obviously Nanami was one of the more educated inhabitants of Rukongai. He kept an eye out for anything that might reveal hidden wealth or prosperity, but came up lacking. Wouldn't a thief keep a part of the 'score' for themselves?

Nanami automatically moved straight in the direction of her bedroom, leaving the intrusive captain behind. It was hard enough to be taken into custody, and now he was invading her living space.

Pausing in the doorway, she spoke, breaking the silence between them. "I'm just going to step in here to change; it'll only be a minute." Not giving him a second thought, she stepped through into her bedroom.

Reaching for the door with every intent to lock it at her back, she gasped when he suddenly filled the doorway with obviously no intention to move. Placing his hands on the doorframe, he forced his way into her bedroom. _Does he seriously plan to stay in the room while I change my clothes?_ Nanami furrowed her brows at the mere thought.

"I want to change my clothes. Alone." In spite of her sprouting fury which paired off with desperation, she tried to sound respectful.

"No." It was only a single word, but he pronounced it with a final validity and authority that made Nanami shiver. Desperation and blind rage struggled for the upper hand, and for the third time within two hours she wanted to tell that bastard what was on her mind.

Incapable of controlling her anger any longer, Nanami held her arms akimbo. "I bet you would talk differently with an aristocrat!" Her words were sharp as knives and she already knew that they would make her situation probably only worse instead anything else.

Indignation gleamed in her dark brown eyes; her hands trembled – this time, however, with raging fury. "You are no aristocrat." His expression didn't change. One would think that he failed to notice her outburst of emotions, though it was quite obvious he chose to deliberately ignore them. The strangely velvet quality of his voice dared her to disobey him, and taunted her at the same time.

"And nevertheless, I have a right to have my privacy." The desire to hurt him rose in her, the temptation to slap him as she did with Isamu beckoned to her seductively. Of course, she doubted her hand would ever reach that pristine face of his.

Arching one delicate brow, Byakuya studied the young woman in front of him. On the off chance that she was indeed, Azumi, he wasn't about to give her the opportunity to flee. "I decide what your rights are, and what they are not." The woman's desire for privacy concerned him little, not when there was a possibility that she was the thief he so diligently searched for. He had no intention of letting her out of his sight until she was safely caged in the 6th Division barracks.

Nanami was beside herself with rage. What he required from her was not only derogatory, but also degrading. She would never allow a man to shame her in such a way, even if said man was a captain. It was the proverbial last straw that snapped her already thin patience. Lashing out, she swung her hand, aiming to slap his face as hard as she could. As she previously suspected, the man had little trouble catching her, already one step ahead. The look in her eyes tipped him off, but even if it had not, he still would have caught her before the blow landed. Obviously, her fear of him only extended so far. With his hand already enclosing her wrist, he gave her arm a quick rotation, twisting it into her back. Taking one step forward, he pressed her against the wall beside the door. Even biting her tongue, Nanami was unable to hold back her scream of agony, her nerves ablaze with pain. Struggle as she might, she could not free herself, or even loosen the man's powerful grip on her.

Byakuya felt her fight against his grip and pressed her further against the cold wall until her vain attempts at freedom died down. Slowly, she got a hold over her emotions and tried to calm herself. Leaning forward to be certain she heard his every word, he brought his mouth close to her ear. "If it means so much to you, I will allow you a few moments of privacy. Do not even think of trying to escape, I guarantee you will not live to tell the tale." The nobleman's voice was menacing, and yet, awkward. His breath brushing against the nape of her neck prompted a shiver to run down her spine. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Nanami nodded, desperately trying to cover up her fear. The close proximity of his body, that powerful grip on her arm, and his muscular figure that held her pressed mercilessly against the wall all served as a painful reminder. It had not been that many days since he'd almost killed her, and with nary a scruple. She had no doubt he would be true to his words.

He held her there just a moment longer, as if in silent warning, before releasing her and soundlessly exiting the room. Still quaking in absolute terror, Nanami remained frozen to the spot. The only thing she perceived was the quiet click of the bedroom door.


	10. Chapter 10: Questions

**To Steal From Thieves**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Bleach_ or the characters within.

A/N: So, after two weeks I have finally finished the next chapter. This update gave me a headache for a long time and I am very glad that **SweetYuya** and my boyfriend helped me a lot. Many thanks to both of them, I really appreciate their help and encouragement and also many thanks to my reviewers. Read and enjoy! :D

A/N 2: Somehow that damn editor deleted some parts of my script -.- I added them again and hopefully, the editor will not remove them again.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Questions**

Bit by bit, the shivers that racked her body decreased, as her racing heart began to slow. As her body calmed, so did her mind, allowing her to mull over this wretched situation she'd found herself in. It had been several minutes since the intimidating Captain left her leaning against this wall with her head bent, and she still had not moved. It dawned on her now that he was not likely to leave her much time to herself, and would no doubt enter the room once more to make certain she was not attempting to flee. The parting words he left her with were daunting, resounding in her mind despite her self admonishment. He had no idea that she truly was 'Azumi' and she intended to keep it that way.

Slipping out of her sleeping yukata, Nanami hastily dressed in a simple, but comfortable kimono and hakama, both a pleasant, muted shade of blue. There were no decorations or embroidery on either, a striking reminder to the simplicity she was used to. Nanami had never been one to cling to material things, denying the splendour and luxury most would have enjoyed for a life content with what little she called her own. Even with all her burglaries and exploits in West Rukongai, she still preferred her modest lifestyle.

Pleased with her outward appearance, she breathed deeply to calm her nerves before leaving the current safety of her bedroom to face the frightening shinigami that momentarily occupied her living room. Her eyes fell on the tiny vial of sleeping powder at her bedside, recalling the potency of the solution. Reaching for the fragile bottle, she tucked it into the sleeves of her kimono discreetly before stepping out to face _him_.

Though Byakuya originally had not planned on letting the young woman out of his sight, he truly doubted she would be foolish enough to attempt an escape. Allowing her the privacy she desired gave him valuable time to search her humble abode, seeking out every last hiding place or niche that would be suitable for hiding her stolen goods. The Kuchiki heir's watchful eyes absorbed every last detail of what he would consider to be a derelict home, but found himself disappointed once more. There was nothing to indicate the woman had a criminal identity.

So what was keeping him from releasing her? It was simple enough to conclude Nanami was different than the average Rukongai citizen. The bookshelves were lined with records and more than a few documents about remedial medicine and herbs, all of which can be quite difficult to understand. They required a great deal of knowledge and intelligence as a basis in order to benefit from their knowledge. He would expect nothing less of Azumi, the woman had already proven she was no fool and certainly not an average thief. He'd underestimated her once, but he would not do it again.

Inevitably, his thoughts circled around the young woman currently changing in the next room. She'd been both reserved and conservative when speaking to Renji, obviously to bail out the children. However, so shortly after achieving that goal and diverting their attention from the children, she made the mistake of attacking him. Those dark eyes of hers had revealed just how difficult it had been for her to restrain herself that long, bridling her anger, only to eventually give into it. He was still uncertain if he should consider her actions courageous, or just downright ludicrous. One would have expected that a woman of her intelligence would not have been foolish enough to assault a Captain. And yet, she'd done just that, probably knowing full well that it would only hurt her in the end.

The crunching of the door caught his attention, pulling his gaze to the young woman that had just been occupying his thoughts, fully dressed now, and standing in the doorway. After their recent encounter, he had expected her to shyly avoid all eye contact, in hopes of avoiding any further castigation. Instead, he found those dark brown eyes defiantly glaring at him, rather than the floor. Unfazed, he returned the stare, his eyes and composure cold and unyielding. None of his subordinates would have dared to look at him that way, openly challenging him. It seemed Nanami was not yet aware of that fact, though he would rectify it soon enough.

"I trust you will not be foolish enough to attempt to resist once more. The consequences for you would be most painful." The menacing voice, combined with his intimidating presence made Nanami shudder despite herself. Even so, she ignored that inner voice that warned her not to react to the mockery in his voice, instead choosing to retort fiercely to him. "I believe your little show of force over someone weaker than yourself displays a similar unreasonableness and immaturity as well."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed to slits at her little rejoinder, scrutinizing the fiery young woman before him. He could hardly believe that she would _dare_ give him such a snippy reply. However, he quickly noted that her self-confident demeanour failed to reach her dark eyes that displayed her fear of him, as well as the raging fury and burning contempt. _She would do well to fear me_ he thought, breaking away his gaze to search her figure, seeking out any hidden weapons she may have concealed while changing. Of course, he knew the woman would not stand a chance against him in battle, but he was both watchful and cautious by nature.

Nanami frowned as his sharp gray eyes slid across the curves of her body...searching. Uneasy with his blatant examination of her form, she shifted her weight from foot to foot. _What is he looking for?_ She wondered, becoming more and more agitated as his gaze followed the path from her breasts, down to her belly and hips. Suddenly, those chilly eyes found hers again, ending the uncomfortable inspection, though she was certain he did not fail to notice the reddening of her cheeks as its result.

Despite her discomfit, when their eyes met, Byakuya saw her delicately chiselled features turned down into a provoking frown, along with a bellicose glimmer in her eyes. With her arms crossed beneath her breasts, and her feet providing a cursory tapping against the wooden floor, she resembled more a petulant child than a strong willed woman.

"We are going." He stated, unperturbed and completely unmoved by her outward display. He'd already turned to exit the battered hut, white scarf fluttering gracefully behind him, and once again reminding Nanami of his position as Head of the Kuchiki Clan.

Though she had intended to protest about his formal order, in the end, Nanami decided it was better for her to obey. Dropping her arms back to her sides, she trailed behind the exalted presence of the shinigami Captain.

* * *

Their journey into the upper districts of the Rukongai, and eventually into the Seireitei proceeded without incident. As they walked, they were eventually joined by the remaining shinigami in the initial search party, as well as Renji, Rikichi, Kori the cook and Midori. Together they moved towards the towering barracks of the 6th division, picking up leftover units along the way. Midori and Nanami spoke in hushed voices, wondering just what the questioning could be about. Much to Nanami's relief, Byakuya abandoned the group shortly before they were inside the Seireitei, leaving Renji in charge.

Every now and then, the flame-haired Lieutenant caught a glimpse of the petite, dark female, and eventually, he let himself fall back in the group to chat with her. Coming up along side her, he struck up a conversation, though not very gracefully.

"Hey there...I was curious...you aren't actually related to that little ruffian? Isamu was his name I think." He asked partly out of his genuine interest as to what their relationship might be, but truly, he was interested to learn more about the intriguing female that had so swiftly shut the troublesome boy up. Concern over her being one of the many suspicious persons under investigation never even entered his mind.

Bringing her conversation with Midori to a halt, Nanami's face softened immensely at the inadvertent reminder of Isamu and Tomoko's safety. Glancing at the handsome man who sauntered so confidently beside her, she answered him honestly. "We aren't related by blood, no. Those two children are, nevertheless, family to me."

"I thought as much. The little troublemaker only seems to listen to you. He was lucky that it was me he attacked, and not Kuchiki-taichou." Renji grimaced at the memory of their little 'battle' and unconsciously his hand shifted slightly towards his midsection. _Oh yeah, taichou would have slaughtered the little shit..._

Repressing a grin, Nanami nodded to him. "I couldn't agree more. He's not a bad child, really. Sometimes he's a bit of a handful, but then other times he can be as amicable as an angel."

Snorting, Renji absentmindedly scratched the back of his head before responding. "Yeah, I'm sure he is...when he's asleep."

For a moment, Nanami gaped at him with wide eyes, before she began to laugh warmly at his assessment of the boy. As she tried to quell her fits of laughter, she playfully poked Renji in his arm. "I've got to admit, you're _much_ better company than your Captain."

Eyeing the giggling female, Renji beamed at her praise, as well as her pleasant laughter. It was unusual to hear such a thing from a resident of the shabby, lower districts of the Rukongai. Life there was usually too hard and too dangerous, and there was little reason for laughter. "It's not easy working with Kuchiki-taichou, especially when someone pisses him off. You never want to be the one he's mad at." He replied, offering her a toothy grin.

As strange as it might sound, the friendly banter with Renji actually helped tremendously to soothe the doubts and thoughts that gnawed at her mind in an endless flood. The lax atmosphere giving her renewed confidence, Nanami turned the subject back to his struggle with Isamu. "Abarai-fukutaichou, I have a question for you."

"No" was his sudden and unexpected response, the strange smirk on his face only confusing her further.

Puzzled, Nanami struggled to piece together that cordial expression on his face with the blunt refusal. "But...why not?"

"For you, sweetheart, there is no 'Abarai-fukutaichou'. Just call me Renji, everyone else does."

The confusion and distress quickly faded as Nanami grasped his meaning, though she still found it quite odd. "Isn't it incredibly rude to speak to the second seat of a division that way?"

Clutching his stomach, Renji let out a hearty roar of laughter at her question. If he hadn't caught the darkening expression on Nanami's face, he might have laughed all the way into the division house. Clearly, she didn't appreciate his childish behaviour. Once his laughter subsided, he replied to her though humour still laced his tone. "Okay, so I'm a Lieutenant, yeah. I'm also originally from district 78 in West Rukon. I'm not exactly the kind of person who fusses over formalities." He paused a moment, waiting for her nod of understanding before speaking again. "Now that we've got that cleared up, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"

Seemingly deep in concentration, Nanami stared almost absentmindedly at the narrow path that was leading them into the Seireitei. Taking a deep breath, she finally plunged ahead with her question. "Did you really intend to hurt Isamu? When I arrived to see your sword resting at his throat...it looked as though you meant to kill him." Unsure of what his reaction would be, Nanami kept her eyes glued to the ground, refusing to even glance in his direction.

"Are you kidding? The brat earned a beating for sure, but I'm not going to stoop so low as to kill a kid for being a smart ass to me." Renji's voice lost all amusement from earlier, returning to a serious and level timbre. The kid pissed him off, and he surely would have liked to kick the shit out of the little demon, especially after getting hit in the nuts, but he would never gravely harm a child. No matter how much they pissed him off.

Taken aback by his emotion filled reply, Nanami accepted his answer, and decided that was enough seriousness for this conversation. Even though their discussions had been short, they were vivid enough for her to discern that he was a rather bold, but honest man. Satisfied with her own conclusions, Nanami tried to lure him back out of his shell with questions about his rather prominent tattoos, shifting the topic entirely. It did the trick, prompting Renji to launch into a detailed explanation. His depictions of past adventures were quite colourful, and accompanied with many zestful gestures and grins.

The two spent the remainder of the trip chatting amicably, bantering back and forth, and sharing jokes and laughter. Nanami teased him once over his rather strange hairstyle and the man tried for nearly half an hour to correct it, with Nanami barely containing her laughter. Steadily, the aching stiffness faded away from her tense muscles and more than ever she found herself grateful to have been entrusted to Renji's care, rather than his Captain's. Even if Renji made it clear he would not let either of the 3 women out of his sight, his outgoing behaviour was a far cry from the awkward strain of dealing with his superior. He grumbled more than once about his orders from the Captain to watch them, though Nanami had already suspected Byakuya would keep a tight watch on them all, especially her.

* * *

Byakuya didn't even bother to raise his head to welcome the third person he would interrogate that day, gesturing instead to the spacious couch in the middle of his rather dreary looking office. "Sit down."

He'd already decided to exclude Midori and the cook Kori from further investigations; due to the fact that they were either too old or physically inept to have fit into the role of a thief. However, he expected his interview with the petite female would prove to me more interesting. Silently, he calculated that she would ignore, or disobey his commands again. To his complete and utter surprise, she obeyed his request without a single objection. The only outward sign of his shock, was the faint rise of one dark brow, indicating his astonishment at her behaviour.

Nanami's first impression of the commodious office was that it lacked feminine empathy in the way of decoration. The walls were painted white, bearing no paintings, photos or anything to provide a more homely atmosphere. Obviously, he wanted nothing to distract the officers from their daily work. The scanty furniture only strengthened this effect. The only pleasant quality about the room was the warming fire coming from an aged chimney. The mantle above was decorated with a ting music box, richly detailed and studded with precious stones. One surreptitious glance was all Nanami needed to tell it was a collectors item.

Unfamiliar with the structure of the office, Nanami inspected her surroundings closely. In her previous visits into the Seireitei, she'd avoided the 6th division entirely; for fear that Kuchiki Byakuya would instantly discover her. She still could not fathom how the man was able to sense her when she was so carefully concealed by thin layers of reiatsu.

"What is your surname" He asked, beginning the questioning she so dreaded. Straightening her back, Nanami focused her attention on the haughty Captain, noting that the man did not even deem it necessary to look at her when he spoke.

„I don't know."

"Explain."

It was a struggle not to wince at the sharp tone that appeared in his typically indifferent voice. Even while sitting at the massive desk, studying a veritable flood of documents, the man's presence was daunting. An aura of calmness tinged with intimidation surrounded him.

Banishing all visible insecurity from her features, Nanami heeded his command and answered him truthfully. "It's just as I said. I don't know my surname. The only relative I had, died 70 years ago, and never once told me my last name."

Glancing up from the surge of reports he studied, Byakuya inspected the now collected woman thoroughly. Through her slightly shaded eyes, he could ascertain the honesty behind her response, as well as identify the pain that came with the admission.

Unperturbed, he continued his interrogation after a moment, elegantly writing his notes onto the record in front of him. From her current distance, Nanami couldn't see what the man wrote down, but upon hearing his long, even brush strokes she wondered what he noted at her response. Once more, his velvety voice sliced through her rather pointless pondering. "Who was this person?"

"My brother" she replied, feeling no need to lie to him in regards to her family background. She had no doubt that a man such as he would surely check such pivotal details to be certain of their accuracy. Not liking the direction his questions were beginning to take, Nanami kept her answers short and to the point.

Many incidents from her caliginous past haunted her, especially the disaster that led to her brother's death, despite all the years that had passed. Back then, she'd been an inexperienced child, with no loving parents or caring relatives. To get by, she stole from commoners like herself, breaking into ramshackle houses and unlocked shops for her daily bread. Due to murderers and brigands that roamed the streets at night, she lived in the nearby forest most of the time, hiding from prying eyes and learning to survive the harshness of Rukongai. Unwilling to reveal such information to the aristocratic Captain, Nanami kept those dolorous memories hidden behind a mask of confidence.

"And what were the circumstances of his death?"

Unnoticed by Nanami, Byakuya was carefully watching for and noting every nuance of her delicately formed features. He witnessed them shift from honesty, to fear, then to sorrow and now back to confidence. With the knowledge that he had indeed hit a soft spot, he continued the interrogation along that vein.

"He was trapped in a fire...in our house." Nanami replied, demurely folding her hands in her lap and knitting them together. Her serene exterior suggested that she'd come to terms with the gloomy subject. However, one glance in those dark eyes told Byakuya quite another story. Grief and pain seemed to grip them, giving him an impression of fragility.

Scribbling down more notes on her striking personality, he carried on. He wouldn't allow her off the hook that easily, instead, he chose to use the tragic death of her sibling as a stepping stone for further questions. "Is he the one who taught you to read and write?"

Perplexed, Nanami stared at him for a moment, baffled as to why he would be interested in her reading and writing abilities. Then it dawned on her. He expected 'Azumi' to have such abilities, and it was certainly unusual for an ordinary citizen to. Uncomfortable with where her train of thoughts was leading, she contemplated her response, and answered carefully. "He was very skilled with the brush and a talented teacher."

"And what did you do to survive after he died?"

Painful recollections washed over her in a sorrowful wave. Byakuya had deliberately linked his probing questions to a subject she was emotionally attached to, in hopes of getting a visible reaction out of the composed female. With this realization, Nanami knew he would mercilessly drag out every last tidbit until she told him everything she knew...or betrayed herself.

Nanami's fury sprouted once more beneath the surface, and her blood began to boil. _Does this man have no sympathy?!_ When it sank in that he had cold-heartedly antagonized her on purpose, it took everything she had to rein in her anger. His dispassionate and heartless attitude when faced with her pain and suffering only fuelled her growing rage. That velvety soft, yet indifferent voice just dared her to attack him again. Usually, Nanami was a peaceful woman and would never hurt another person if she could avoid it, but for _him_ she would make an exception.

Swallowing her own pride, she ground her fury to a halt in order to reply, but she could not keep the bite from her voice. To be so callously reminded of the events was hurting her far more than the blade of his zanpaktou ever could. "I begged on the dirt covered streets for food or water."

Byakuya literally felt the shift in her attitude. _Emotional dismay often works wonders in coaxing someone out of their shell. If she betrays herself now it would save me hours of fruitless labor._ The agitated female did indeed fit the rough description of Azumi provided by Keisuke. She was slender in shape, graceful and yet tentative. She feared him and yet she was daring enough to risk offending him. _If she _is_ Azumi, I will make certain she does not elude me a second time._

"And when no one was willing to provide you with food?" The emphasis on which he'd placed the word 'provide' nearly drove her mad and she just barely caught herself before snapping at him. Shocked and humiliated to the bone, she glared daggers at him.

Cumbrously, she controlled the blood burning in her veins, focusing on keeping her voice calm as she spoke. "Then I gathered what I could in the forest, living off herbs, berries or the flesh of animals." She had to bite her perfidious tongue and swallow hard to keep herself from flinging violent curses at him.

"And when the forest was occupied with roaming bandits? What did you do then?"

Throughout the entire conversation, he'd never raised that indifferent voice, his only reactions being to hastily scribble down notes at her responses. His arrogance and superior attitude had brought Nanami perilously close to the edge, but she'd recovered each time. _He will not goad me into slapping him again._ This time, he managed to send her over, his cruelty giving her one final shove.

Infuriated, Nanami rose from her sitting position on the spacious couch, fists clenched and her nails biting into the soft skin of her palms. She'd had more than enough of his churlish behaviour, lashing out at him at last. Piercing eyes glittering with rage, she was barely able to contain the blazing urge to attack him, squeezing her hands together even tighter. "I wasn't pampered by five servants and three housemaids!" she snapped.

While Byakuya had considered multitudes of reactions, he'd certainly not expected to receive such a sarcastic and offensive response. _This woman really wants to die..._ Slowly, he placed the documents he'd been holding on the desk, rising from his seat and gracefully gliding towards her. _The woman has some gall, with those defiant eyes and sharp tongue. She is intelligent enough to know better and she will learn to behave in my presence! _Taking another step towards Nanami, his left hand wandered–for dramatic effect, no doubt–to the solid hilt of his zanpaktou.

Nanami's small frame grew stiff as he made his second, carefully placed step in her direction. Her senses jumped, immediately on high alert when his hand so elegantly came to rest on the hilt. Memories of that merciless hold he'd had on her only hours before came back in a tidal wave, her fear cresting. Dimming the fires of her rage, panic gripped her heart fiercely. It seemed his very approach made it difficult to breathe, and she was soon scolding herself for her own foolishness. When he took his next step, Nanami did as well, moving back. _He looks like a predator on a hunt_ she thought, her fright filled eyes kept wandering over to the sword at his side. Unconsciously, she took yet another step back, desperate to escape his terrifying presence.

Suddenly, Nanami struck the desk of the 6th divisions Lieutenant with an audible bump, horrified to discover there was no where else to go. Glancing back at the imposing figure, she blinked. At first glance, Byakuya had been on the far end of the room, still relatively close to his own desk. A second glance found him towering directly in front of her.

It was the second time the man had deliberately invaded her personal space, but she did not dare look up into those cold, unyielding eyes she knew she would find. At this range, his menacing aura heightened her fear immensely, as if it weren't skyrocketing already. Again, she cursed her own stupidity, now furious with herself for offending him. Uncertain whether she should apologize to him or just be quiet, she vehemently refused to even sneak a peek at him, staring silently at the wooden floor.

Seizing her chin with his thumb and forefinger, Byakuya applied a minute amount of pressure, just enough to force her to raise her head and meet his grim visage. He couldn't explain why, but those lively, feisty eyes of hers fascinated him, though he doubted he was the only one. They resembled a fine array of emotions that were usually hidden beneath her controlled composure. Now that he was this close, they were plainly visible to him. They had shown him many things before, pain, grief, sorrow, and then to fire, vigor and devotion. Though now they only shook with fear.

"I see it is possible to prevent you from uttering your rashly spoken words." He noted aloud. His reserved, detached expression was in stark contrast to the gentleness of his touch. Nanami had intended to answer him, when she felt his thumb grazing her rough lips. Moving his smooth fingertips gently across her lips, he used his free hand to trap her, preventing any attempts of escape. _How can such a merciless man have such an affectionate touch?_

That silky voice of his was but a quiet whisper when it met her ears and even so, Nanami heard the silent threat in it loud and clear.

"I loathe to repeat myself, but I believe this will be the last time I am forced to do so. Tell me now, just what did you do as a child to survive?"

Usually, Nanami was not one to be intimidated. In her harsh lifetime, she'd observed many shinigami, but none that exuded such an ominous and overwhelming aura as he did. The man's mere existence at this moment seemed enough to make the words freeze in her throat. Softly, his thumb glided over the outlines of her mouth, reminding her of the power he held. Outsiders could misunderstand his caress for a kind of affection between lovers, but in truth, it was a game for supremacy. A game he had won so effortlessly. Nanami assumed this demonstration of power and dominance was meant to push her back into her place in the hierarchy. Grazing her lower lip with a tender stroke for the last time, he slowly pulled his hand back, as if to give her permission to speak once more. Even so, he did not take one step back, his refusal to move serving as a reminder to answer his questions truthfully.

Inhaling deeply, Nanami sucked in the much needed oxygen into her lungs. She'd only just noticed that she'd not been breathing. Swallowing hard, she tried to find her voice again. When she did, it trembled slightly, and her tone was meek and compliant. "The life in the Rukongai was harsh and unforgiving, certainly not suited for a child. I begged on the street, gathered herbs or stole things from other people to live. I hid from gangs and bandits and in the night I slept in a cave or empty buildings. When I was older, I worked for a farmer and assisted a friend in the library. One day, I read a book about the curative effects of some herbs, so I began gathering and selling those to earn money."

That was only a tiny part of the complicated truth, but even that made her feel miserable, as it was exposing the in-depth details of her private life to a horrible man such as he.

Just moments after the flood of words poured from her mouth, two sharp knocks broke the awkward silence that followed.

"It's Abarai-fukutaicho...may I come in, sir?" Nanami recognized the throaty voice of Renji from the other side of the chunky door almost instantly.

Byakuya eyed the still closed door thoroughly, before stepping back from Nanami and granting Renji's request. "You may enter, Abarai-fukutachiou."

"Sorry to disturb you, sir. I thought you were already finished with the interrogations." Renji apologized, bowing respectfully to his superior, while casting a curious glance in Nanami's direction. Her distraught appearance and trembling hands did not go unnoticed.

"Abarai, you will accompany this young woman to one of the division guest rooms. She will be staying here for quite some time." Without sparing either of them a second glance, Byakuya returned to the document he'd cast aside earlier and wrote down his final notes of the interview.

Nodding briefly to Nanami, Renji motioned for her to follow. "This way." Grateful to have escaped the unpleasant questioning, Nanami completely forgot about her own job, and what her absence over the next few days would mean. As they stepped out in the hall, Renji gently nudged her with his elbow to grab her attention.

"I have no idea what you said to him, but trust me when I say you shouldn't piss him off. Just do whatever he says and you'll be fine, but you have _got_ to be careful around him." The deathly serious tone of his voice, combined with his concerned expression alarmed Nanami more than his words. Renji did not strike her as overly pensive or cautious, but if he was admonishing her and instructing her to be careful, she should do so.

Nodding, she followed him down a dreary stairway to the ground floor of the immense building. Stopping in front of one of the many doors, he pulled a tiny key from his pocket, unlocking the door prior to let her in. Before Nanami could comment on the battered and overall grim room she'd been assigned, her stomach growled, reminding her bitterly that she'd not eaten today.

Renji's broad grin only heightened her growing embarrassment, though his kindness softened the blow a bit. "I'll go find something to eat for you, don't worry." Gently pushing her the rest of the way into the desolate and scantly furnished room, he quietly shut the door, giving her some much needed solitude.

While Renji was gone to search for a meal, Nanami studied the bleak room she'd been given. There was a worn out chair and desk in one corner, as well as a tattered old mattress in another. Other than that, there was no other furniture to speak of. Spotting a shabby door on the right wall, Nanami curiously walked over, pushing it open to see where it led. Creaking on its hinges, the dilapidated door swung open to reveal a simple bathroom, just as austere, if not more so, as the living area. It may not have been the nicest place to stay, but she'd certainly lived in worse and this was more than she expected for someone being held prisoner. There was a threadbare window directly across from the entrance, but it was so dirty that no one could see in or out of it.

Though she held a faint glimmer of hope that she would be freed soon, Byakuya's intense questioning kept her on edge. He wouldn't let her get away easily. Her similarities to Azumi were too great for that. Of course, reminding herself that she resembled Azumi because she _was_ Azumi did nothing to calm her frazzled nerves.

She also had to work in the pharmacy and look after Isamu and Tomoko. Yuudai might get by a few days without her help, but if she was gone too long, he'd find someone else to do her job. Inwardly, she cursed Byakuya for ruining the peaceful harmony of her life. Plunking down on the hard mattress with a thud, she crossed her arms behind her head and contemplated her situation. After Byakuya's chilling reaction during that excruciating questioning, Nanami swore to herself she'd never let that heartless man close to her again.

* * *

Dark gray eyes stared at the ruby encrusted ring that lay in Hisana's shrine by her portrait. Soi Fon had wrested the precious band from the claws of the trader, Tsubasa, and the man was currently withering away in one of the more somber cells of the 2nd division. However, it was the audacious thief Azumi, who had robbed him of this ring and it was that woman that currently held his complete attention.

Lost in his own ruminations, Byakuya stared blankly at the unusual item. The _Ring of Pride_ was sharpened brilliantly with a red jewel in the middle socket. Small, silver serpents formed the base and held the precious gem in place. Hisana never wore the ring on her finger, choosing instead to wear it on a thin chain around her neck. Without wasting thoughts on the consequences of his actions, he'd married her. On their wedding day, he'd bestowed upon her this ring, allegorically handing a part of his pride to her as well. With that gesture, he'd placed her under his protection, ignoring duty and obligatory honor, he'd done what he deemed to be the right thing.

_Duty and honor. _Those words were a painful reminder of Rukia's forthcoming execution. At the grave of his parents, he swore that he would carry the burdens implied with his name and position – after his marriage to Hisana and Rukia's subsequent adoption – to preserve duty and honor. For more than fifty years, he'd stood by his decision with all his strength. He would not deviate from the respectable and dutiful path, even when his adopted sister's execution put that promise to the test. Exiling the dark haired siblings from his thoughts, Byakuya closed the shrine door.


End file.
